Breaking Down Walls
by Silicus
Summary: Life goes on after the defeat of Darren Cross (AKA yellow jacket) Scott and Hope begin a slow relationship. Hope is struggling to lower her walls that she has spent years building up. Scott continues to be the Hero his daughter, Hank and Hope believe him to be, except now he has a sidekick the Wasp. Yellowjacket was just the beginning, maybe rated M in the future for violence.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N ANTMAN WAS AMAZING! So I wrote this fanfic my first ever:) I own Sirus Burke and Olivia Evans. Rebecca and Josh Stephens aren't mine,** **they belong to ATrue-Renaissance who has given me permission to use them:)**

 **Big thanks to my friend ATrue-Renaissance for editing some of it and creating inspiration and encouragement along the way. Couldn't have done this all without her! :)**

 **ENJOY!**

 **PS:** **I'm looking for a beta reader, if you're interested send me a message:) also please leave a review if you are enjoying the story**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Scott sat in his car, waiting for Hope to leave so he could talk about his lame excuse to escape Hank's wrath and thought he owed her an apology. When she didn't come out he wondered if she was receiving a mouthful of disapproval from Hank. Got to love that cranky, grumpy man. He sat patiently wondering what on earth was going on, so he grabbed his phone and hit speed dial,

"This is Hope" replied the voice causing his heart to race a little faster.

"Uh . . . hey Hope, I was wondering, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Hope replied in an amused tone.

Scott took a deep breath

"I've been waiting outside for like the past hour."

"Stalking me are you?" She teased.

"Who's stalking you?" An irritated voice spoke.

"No one Hank, just someone calling about some business stuff." Lied Hope.

Scott laughed and explained to Hope his purpose of waiting outside and she replied that she'd see him soon, at a café just up the street. He arrived and took a seat facing the door so that he would know the minute Hope appeared. He didn't have to wait long at all. He watched as Hope Van Dyne entered the café, her short black hair cupping her face. She was dressed in her business attire which caused Scott to beamed. Impressed that in light of all that had happened she was heading back to work.

"So what does the Antman want?" She asked taking a seat opposite him.

"Hmm . . . now that your asking, I was thinking some fries, a smoothie and an iced coffee. Man its hot outside." He said,

Hope rolled her eyes and picked up the menu and ordered a coffee, while Scott decided to treat himself to a feast.

"And who might I ask is paying for this occasion?" She sighed already knowing the answer to her question.

"I am of course . . ." was the reply which startled her, "look just cause I am a criminal . . . well was a criminal, who recently turned out to be a superhero who bested Falcon in a duel, doesn't mean I am broke. I happened to have saved some money, besides your dad . . . um Hank gave me some cash to help me out."

"Ah I see . . . well thanks Scott."

"Your welcome . . . look about that incident back at the house . . . I was kidding about blaming you for what happened and then just leaving. So I am sorry."

"You are forgiven" She said smiling then added cheekily, "princess."

"Crap." He replied smiling

They sat and talked and as the food arrived Hope decided she wanted to have some fries and so they shared them. Scott asked about what was going on in the house when he was waiting and Hope told him and held her breath unsure of how he would respond.

"THAT IS AWESOME!" He exclaimed his face showed he was sincerely happy for her.

"Thanks Scott, it means a lot." She said.

"So what cool features does it have?"

"Well to sum it up in a nutshell, reinforced armor, shrink capability, enhanced strength pretty much all the things yours has but I have wings."

Scott's mouth dropped opened in astonishment, he closed it and told her that sounded epic. Hope asked whether or not he was considered upgrading his suit. He response was one of mock horror. Scott spent the next 5 minutes explaining why he wouldn't do that, he liked Antony 2. The memory of Antony, his first flying ant companion caused him to remain silent, he had a special bond with him and it pained him that Darren Cross and shot it down. Hope knew what was going on in his head and laid a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gently squeeze.

"You okay?"

"Yeah . . . just upset that's all." Replied Scott turning his attention to Hope.

The talked a little bit more and Hope said that she was probably going to quit her job and help Hank start a new company with the purpose of making the world a better place and they wanted Scott to be apart of it. He beamed at the honor of being asked especially seeing that the invitation came from Hope and had been approved by Hank. Scott began to feel a little awkward unsure of what to do next. He had kissed Hope and she had kissed him back but they had been interrupted by Hank, before he had the chance to express his feelings properly to Hope. He knew what he felt but he wasn't sure if she felt the same way towards him, after all it could have been the heat of the moment, and the hectic events that occurred during the past day. Besides he had been a criminal, he didn't have a job – well he soon would have one – his bank account was pretty low and Hope seemed far out of his league.

"Um Hope . . ." He said nervously squirming in his chair.

"Yes?" She said her eyes glued to her phone attending to business matters

"Um . . . back there in Hank's place . . . when we kissed I um . . . well . . . I didn't . . . get the chance to um . . . tell you that I love you." He stuttered.

There he had said it and now he was waiting for what would crush his heart. He had briefly run through the possible outcomes and none of them looked great. He sat waiting as several seconds passed. Hope lowered her phone slowly until it was resting on the table.

"What was that?" She asked smiling.

"I um . . . love you" he said again lowering his eyes unable to look at what would come next.

He waited and nothing happened so he raised his eyes to look directly into her eyes which were tearing up. He watched as he saw a single tear, unashamedly roll down her cheeks.

"I love you too Scott." She said softly, "please be patient will me Scott . . . I have spent many years trying to build up walls to protect myself . . . you know I've suffered a great deal. But knowing you and hanging out with you I want this . . . I want you its just going to take time. Please understand."

"Of course I understand and I will be patient." He said a large smile plastered on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Scott stood outside the new building called Pym Technologies, Hank had decided to rebuild what he had started. He was voted back into the company and the company itself changed direction to where it wanted to go. As he passed the security check he was met by Hope who was dressed in her business attire.

"Don't you wear anything other then that?" He blurted out.

"What's wrong with wearing this?" She asked raising her eyebrows at him.

"It's just . . . well you are always wearing that unless, you are at Hank's or sparing."

"That's not true." She defended.

"Yeah I guess . . . its just it'd be nice to see you in like a dress or something."

Scott watched Hope's reaction and quickly backed up.

"Er . . . never mind, love the work uniform."

To which Hope smirked at him. She motioned him to follow her. In light of thinking about leaving Hank had decided it would be better to remain and he had asked her to hold a vote to make him in charge again. After Darren Cross's madness the board was all too willing to allow Hank to come back. After all it would mean he would have to deal with all the ugly mess. The insurance companies were putting up a fight claiming that a building getting destroyed then vanishing wasn't covered. However, Hank hired the best lawyers and soon the matter was settled.

"So what exactly am I needed for?" Scott asked curiously.

"Oh we were thinking security detail." Hope joked, "Hank wants you to simply be a director, your job will require some training but the pay is good."

"Ah I see and . . . um what role did you get?"

"I am your personal assistant" She said looking at Scott who had a massive grin on his face.

"Sweet!" he exclaimed, "wait did you father . . . I mean Hank approve of this?" He asked nervously, shifting the weight of his feet.

"Well he has little say in this matter." Smirked Hope, "besides I am half the owner as well so . . . I'm sure he will be fine."

* * *

"NO WAY ARE YOU GOING TO BE SCOTT'S PERSONAL ASSISTANT" Shouted Hank in frustration.

"And why is that?" She asked placing her hands on her hips like a mother scolding a child.

"Because . . . I said so."

Hope laughed her father was acting like a child. She rolled her eyes at his behavior.

"I am an adult." She stated simply.

"Bah . . . doesn't mean you can be HIS personal assistant."

 _My isn't someone over protective_ Hope thought a large smile spreading across her face.

"Wipe that smile off . . . no keep it on . . . its good to see you so . . . happy." He finished lamely.

"Look if you want to be with Scott fine! But I expect you and him to perform, if I see you two getting behind the work given to you, I will end this assistant business. IS THAT CLEAR!?" He stressed the last three words making Hope know he wasn't kidding.

"And what happens if Antman is needed?" She poked, drawing a frustrated sigh from her father.

"Fine I won't hold you two accountable if 'heroing' stuff comes up, which reminds me we have that Hyrda problem . . ." his voice trailed off.

Hank ran his hands across the top of his hair, a signal that he was deep in thought. Hope opened her mouth to speak but he held a hand to silence her. They would talk about this later.

* * *

Scott scowled at the amount of books Hope and dropped on his desk. He groaned when he discovered this was jus the beginning. Scott didn't mind work but reading, that was something different. He preferred books on, how to pick locks, how to hot wire a car. Hope simply smiled at his discomfort and told him he'd better get to work and relied her conversation with Hank.

"So the old man is furious." Chuckled Scott picking up the first book and began to read.

"Oh more then that . . . I'm surprised he didn't have a temper tantrum or throw something." Teased Hope.

"So Hope . . . um this weekend I was going to take Cassie fishing up at this lake with Maggie and Jim . . . do you . . . would you like to come?" He asked nervously.

"Hmm I'll think about it." She said teasingly then stopped when she noticed he was a little crestfallen, "You know what? I think I'll come." _Might as well take this chance to let Scott in._

Scott's faced beamed and said he was going to go make some tea which caused Hope to roll her eyes. He returned handing her a cup and then settling down into his chair and taking up one of the books. Hope left as there were other matters that needed to be tending to, as the whole facility was needed to be put into order. She returned hours later to find Scott leaning over the desk asleep he had managed to finish on book and another lay open. She chuckled softly and went over to him to shake him.

"What's the matter?" He groaned tiredly.

"Scott you fell asleep."

Scott jerked awake

"No I didn't." He said.

Hope gave him a questioning gaze.

"I was merely resting my brain from all that information . . . I was meditating." He offered.

Hope shook her head trying hard to suppress the large grin that was fighting to be shown. She failed. Scott gave him one of his adorable smiles which caused her heart to melt. She composed herself and told Scott to go home and get some sleep. He picked up the open book and tucked it under his arm then walked over to Hope and was just about to lean in and kiss her when Hank appeared.

"So when did this happen?" He said in a tone all to familiar to Scott.

"Nothings happening." Scott said quickly pulling back.

"Something's kinda happening." Smirked Hope enjoying that the roles were reversed.

Hank's face displayed shock as he took in what his daughter had said. He let out a deep sigh and Scott hurried out of the office before Hank could yell and him.

"That did not just happen." Said Hank knowing all to well that it had just happened.

"Um," was all Hope could say as she tried to get rid of her large smile.

"Don't think that just because I am old it means . . ."

"I better go." Said Hope chasing after Scott, wanting to avoid this conversation with her dad.

"Kids." Grumbled Hank.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Scott groaned as he turned over in his bed. He had stayed up till 2am reading the books he was assigned to read. He had spent the last two days doing nothing other then reading, eating, drinking coffee and sleeping. Hope had been very busy so it was no surprise that he hardly saw her. _So much for personal assistant_. He thought. Scott checked the time it read 7am. He sat up and stretched then went to reach for the book resting on his bed table. Then it struck him, it was the weekend, that meant he could sleep in, he didn't have to read those books. He was about to go back to sleep when his phone began to ring.

"Scott" He said wearily into his phone.

"Dad?" Asked a female voice.

"Hey peanut." Scott said his voice lighting up.

"Did you forget we are going fishing?" Cassie asked in a knowing tone.

"No I just . . . daddy's really busy at work. I'll be over in an hour okay?"

"Okay."

"Love you peanut."

"Love you too dad." Replied Cassie hanging up the phon.

Scott got changed and quickly packed up his gear. They were going to go camping for one night then return so he didn't need much. He was just heading out the door when he decided he would be needing his suit. He hurried back inside and grabbed his gym bag which held his suit. He jumped into his van and headed off to Maggie and Jim's place. He had heard they were having trouble with insurance as they didn't know whether or a giant train counted for insurance or not. As Scott neared he wasn't sure if Hope would be there, he vaguely remembered telling her that they would be leaving at around 8:30 but he couldn't quite remember her response. Scott wondered how long it would take for Hope to open up completely.

He soon arrived and walked over to Cassie who in turn and straight into Scott and gave him a big hug.

"DADDY!" She squealed loudly

"Hey peanut." He responded retuning the hug.

"Scott!" Said Jim walking toward him his arms laden with tents and cooking gear.

"Hey Jim . . . how'd you end up taking all the stuff to the car?" Laughed Scott

"Better watch it otherwise they'll both make you join me." Replied Jim.

"Who else is inside?" Asked Scott looking down at Cassie.

"Um . . . someone called Hope." She respond.

Scott smiled and walked in through the front door. It was mostly repaired and it was hard to believe that just in just a week it looked like nothing had happened. He heard two female voices talking.

"So you and Scott?" He heard Maggie ask.

"Oh . . . no we work together, actually I am his assistant and well I am helping him catch up on stuff that is vital for his role."

"Hey Hope." He said naturally.

He saw a large smile creep up onto her face.

"Hi Scott." She replied composing herself, "how did the reading go?"

"Well I'm nearly halfway there, there'd better not be anymore." He complained.

"You have just scratched the surface." She said playfully.

Scott groaned good naturally and watched Maggie's expression which seemed curious but saw her shrug it away. Scott was thankful that Maggie was bombarding them with questions. They went outside and Scott helped move Hope's gear into his van and soon they were off.

Scott and Hope talked the entire trip up to the camping site. They talked about work, about how her Wasp suit was coming along and how Hank was doing. Scott was surprised that Hank seemed to have more energy and his crankiness seemed more controlled. Hope quizzed Scott on the information he had been reading and for the most part was able to answer correctly which impressed Hope.

"You aren't thinking I'm the wrong guy are you?" He asked, remembering how much Hope disliked him and thought he was a waste of time.

"Look . . . I'm sorry for my behavior then . . . I was just angry at Hank and at Darren Cross. You added to my frustration trying to train you was like training a rock to move." She smirked at the last part, "But I now see I was wrong and I'm glad you became the Antman."

"Hmm . . . I am very glad I became the Antman otherwise I would never have met you Hope Van Dyne." He winked cheekily at her.

"Did you just call me that?" She asked raising her eyebrows.

"Um no . . . I'd never call you THAT, well except for just then." He grinned.

Hope merely rolled her eyes in disbelief, she couldn't believe how much Scott made her want to smile when he said those things or ruined a moment being somewhat funny. Her mind wondered to the time when Hank and told her about how her mother died and how he was trying to protect her. Scott had ruined the moment clapping his hands together loudly and saying

"Awesome, you guys are making up, tearing down those walls."

Only to realize he had ruined the moment and even asked if he was, she had wanted to scold him but she found it amusing, especially when he quickly existed to make tea.

"What's on your mind?" Scott's voice snapped her back to reality.

"I was thinking about you." She said wryly.

"Oh? Like how much I kick butt in the suit?" He asked.

"No, rather how funny you are when you try and back-peddle from saying the wrong thing." She said grinning cheekily at his open mouth.

Scott's face turned bright red in embarrassment remembering all to well those moments. They just seemed to happen but he was glad it made Hope happy. They arrived at the site and soon began unpacking everything. Scott noted that Hope wasn't dressed in her usual attire. He nodded approvingly,

"What?" Asked Hope her heart racing as she caught Scott staring at her.

"Oh its just . . . you like beautiful in that outfit. Who knows maybe dresses next?"

Hope grinned at him, "Lets not get to far of ourselves"

Scott shrugged his shoulders and soon they began setting up their campsite. Maggie and Jim started to collect firewood, while Scott explained to Cassie how to set up a tent. Hope watched a large smile upon her face as she watched Scott patiently help his daughter with the tent. He was laughing with her and soon they were on the floor tickling each other. She laughed softly and was surprised that Scott had heard her. He flashed her a smile then got back off the ground and finished off the remaining tent. Soon they were fishing something that Hope hadn't done since her mother died. She watched as Scott helped cast Cassie's line out for her and took a seat next to her. He kept some distance between despite the urge to hold her, he knew that this relationship wasn't ready to be in the open yet.

"So Hope you um . . . enjoying yourself?" he said after a moment of silence passed between them.

"Yeah Scott, I am. I enjoy watching you and Cassie, its refreshing." She replied her eyes glued on Cassie who was reeling in the line.

Scott sat up and helped Cassie cast the line out again then resumed his spot next to Hope. They talked quietly to one another and when Jim and Maggie returned they helped with the fire and the preparing for the evening meal. Scott was surprised that Hope wasn't glued to her phone and answer messages. Normally no matter what it was, unless they were sparring, she would be responding to some message.

"So Scott how's the new job?" Asked Jim as they set to work cooking the meat.

"Oh you know . . . its new . . . I am like training or so my assistant tells me." He said glancing over to Hope who flashed him a sly grin.

"Oh so Hope what do you have Scott doing."

"Reading mostly, next week he will start overseeing some stuff over at Pym tech." She replied the added, "which reminds me Scott, Hank wants Kurt to install a new security system to the building."

"Kurt? Sure I'll ask him first thing Monday morning." Scott replied he turned away from Hope as he could feel himself want to smile affectionately at her.

The meal was soon cooked and Jim helped Cassie clean a large fish she had caught and they added it to the meal. Cassie began to toast marshmallows while Scott tackled the chocolate. Hope laughed softly as she saw dabs of chocolate smeared all over his face. She wondered if she should help him remove it but thought otherwise. She watched as Scott hugged his daughter goodnight and wanted nothing else but to hug Scott. She blushed as she caught herself thinking such thoughts. She was grateful the the glow of the fire as it hid her red cheeks.

Jim brought out a deck of cards and soon they were in a heated game of 500. Scott was patient with Hope to start off with and soon they were annihilating Jim and Maggie.

"I can't believe this is your first time to play 500!" Scott exclaimed as they won their third game in a row.

"Yes . . . I can't believe I am losing this bad." Groaned Jim in a joking tone.

Hope smirked and simply shrugged her shoulders, not used to getting such praise from people. She felt her cheek grow warm due to the praise the others were showering, especially one in particular. Jim and Maggie retired leaving Scott alone with Hope. He shifted closer to her until his arm was touching hers.

"So how was your day?" He asked a hint of worry in his voice.

"It was grand . . . I haven't done this since . . ." she chocked on the last words

"Hey sweetheart its okay." He said soothingly.

"I know . . . I just miss her . . . wait did you just call me sweetheart?" She asked looking at him.

"Uh . . . no of course not . . . I wouldn't dare call you that . . . except I just did." He stuttered trying to back-peddle, "That wasn't appropriate" he finished lamely

Scott groaned internally at his big mouth. Hope wasn't even his girlfriend yet and now he had simply implied that they were. The last thing he wanted to do was rush her, he wanted her to feel comfortable around her and he knew that she did to some extent. But he couldn't wait until they were a couple and maybe get married. He shuddered at the thought not because he feared it but that he wasn't a hundred percent sure what Hope thought about that possibility, would she want to be more then just good friends. Had she ever thought of getting married to him? He wasn't entirely sure what lay ahead.

"Don't take it back!" Blurted Hope suddenly.

"Um . . .okay?" He replied hesitantly.

"Only you can call me that." She said softly not wanting to be overheard.

Scott beamed with happiness and Hope felt her heart melt. She couldn't speak so she just watched Scott as he gazed at her in pure joy. Scott looked up into the vast open sky and sighed.

"Its so much more beautiful out here." He said gazing at the moon and the thousands of stars that glittered and shone.

"It is indeed." Replied Hope.

She bit her lip as she contemplated whether or not she would follow through with what was going through her mind. She swallowed hard then took a step of faith and leaned her head onto Scott's broad, strong shoulders. She remembered the first time feeling his strong shoulders against her head when he kissed her behind the door. She felt her heart sing. She knew this was going to be a long journey for the both of them, with her dealing with the different things in her past but two things she was certain. She felt safe, comfortable and loved around Scott, he made her happy. She gave a happy sigh as they both watched the stars dance.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Completing final update." Spoke Kurt huddled behind his laptop and drumming his hands on the key board.

"Thanks Kurt for assisting Pym Tech." Said Scott looking up from his desk were a large stack of papers required his satureign.

"No worries comrade" Grinned Kurt, "by the way did you know I've been hired as IT guy."

"No I wasn't aware of that but that's great!" Exclaimed Scott who was now busy reading over sheets of papers and signing them.

Scott groaned at the mountain of paperwork required. He had enjoyed a lovely weekend only to have his week ruined by Monday paperwork. He wondered if Hope disliked paperwork as much as he did.

"Scott I've been gone one hour and you've only managed to sign one?" Questioned Hope walking into his office carrying three cups of coffee.

"Uh well . . . Kurt and I have been chatting and stuff . . ." he said refusing to look Hope in the eye.

Kurt chuckled and accepted the coffee from Hope. Scott grinned cheekily as he took the coffee from Hope's hand. She gave him an accusing look which only made Scott grin even more. She rolled her eyes and took a seat next to him.

"Sign here, here and here." She said slightly frustrated.

Scott turned serious and began to scribble his name where she had pointed. Kurt walked out of Scott's office whistling as he went off to test his latest security system that he had custom built for Pym Tech.

"Sorry sweetheart." Said Scott softly noticing that she as annoyed.

"Its okay . . . its just these documents need to be signed." She said nodding that she had forgiven him.

"Kay" he said and in the next 10 minutes had all the documents signed and Hope smiling.

"Thanks for the fishing trip." She said as she walked out the pile of papers tucked underneath her arms.

* * *

Hank sat in his basement lab wondering where the heck Hope and Scott where. He had something important to tell them and they had said they'd be there ASAP. He heard Hope giggle as they entered the lab.

"What took you so long!?" Demanded Hank annoyed.

"Well for starters . . ." Began Scott.

"I don't want to know . . . it was rhetorical."

"Dad . . . just tell us what is so important to have you upset that we are a few minutes late." Said Hope placing herself between Hank and Scott.

Hank still wasn't keen on the idea of Scott courting his daughter even if they both denied doing such things. He had his suspicions, he had never seen Hope so happy and it pained him that the reason for her happiness was none other then Scott. He knew whatever feelings they held for each other was well guarded and while there were a few hints here and there Hope and Scott weren't an official item. They weren't even boyfriend or girlfriend yet.

"I've been keeping an eye out for the Hydra buyer that Darren had sold the Antman suit to." He began glaring at Scott, "He's been keeping low and has finally decided to think that he is safe. Anyway turns out he has one of the vials that allows you to shrink."

"SERIOUSLY!?" Said Scott shocked.

"Yeah I am, its bad enough that one of them is loose, but by HYDRA!? I can't believe Darren stooped that low to sell my technology to those villains."

"Well Dad, if I remember correctly Darren researched and experimented and cracked the code so . . . technically it wasn't your tech . . . but HYRDA is definitely a threat. I'm not sure if the Avengers are aware of um you know said vial." Said Hope

Scott smiled as he heard Hope addressed Hank as dad. Not that he really cared but it was sign that whatever hardness and bitterness she harbored for him was slowly but surely going away.

"Yeah, yeah so what . . . I still invented it first so its my tech." he said in a more whiney tone that he had intended.

Scott stifled a laugh and excused himself to go fetch some tea. Leaving Hope and Hank alone for a brief moment.

"So Hope . . . where were you on the weekend? I thought you'd be bugging me to help work on your new suit." Asked Hank once he was certain Scott wasn't in hearing distance.

"OH . . . I was hanging out, with a friend." Hope responded not wanting to discuss Scott with Hank again.

"Hmmm which friend?"

"Um . . ."

"I'm back." Declared Scott coming in carrying three cups of tea.

Hope shot Scott a smile knowing he had been listening in and had chosen the correct time to reappear. Hank went on to describe the mission on hand, it appeared that the man was a high level Hydra agent and was still being cautious but Hank had reason to believe that he was still somewhere in America trying to wait until the heat died down before returning to Europe. Hank told them to stand by and to cancel any thing they had planned incase they were called away at a moments notice. Scott glanced at Hope and she flashed him a quick grin, which seemed to say, don't-you-dare-cancel-our-dinner.

"There is also the issue of the your new suit." Said Hank unaware of the signals passing between Scott and Hope.

"Yeah . . . could I have a look at it please?" Asked Scott giving Hope one of his adorable pleas.

"Yeah . . . I think its time I show him." Said Hope turning to Hank who shrugged his shoulders.

Scott followed Hope as she lead him to the room where she and her father spent many hours after work completing the suit. Scott's mouth dropped open when he saw the new suit. It looked amazing and he gasped as he saw it was the same colour as his.

"I thought you told me it was yellow and black" he said unable to take his eyes away from the beautiful wings attached to the back of the suit.

"Yeah . . . well it comes in two colours, I thought it'd be cool to have two Antmans, even though I guess it'd be Ant women." Hope responded playfully.

Scott smiled and nodded his head approvingly and rapped his knuckles on the suit. It was metal.

"Hank you've been holding back on me." He joked, "when do I get reinforced metal huh? You know it would be good if I could reduce the pain whenever I get slammed into the ground."

"Yeah well, that was my suit and IT AINT CHANGING!" He growled the last words.

"Boys!" warned Hope clearly amused at Hank and Scott arguing.

"Just be ready to leave at a moments notice, Hope's suit is pretty much complete. We will have to get the suit done this week, as I am certain the Hydra agent will contact his associates, once it leaves US soil its going to be harder to track down. When he makes contact I will know about it and perhaps we can take down a number of Hydra leaders and recover the vial . . . "

"Wait how do you know he is coming out of hiding but you have no idea where he is in America?" Interjected Scott.

"Because Scott I just do . . . I have my ways of gathering information as you know." He said smugly.

"Yeah sure . . . whatever, just let me know when I'm needed." Said Scott turning to Hope. "So Hope, I believe we have a meeting with Kurt discussing possible vulnerabilities with out security system, and then a lunch."

"Indeed, then I will return and finish off my suit with Dad." She replied following Scott out the door.

Hank just merely groaned, he doubted they were actually going to met anyone and were making up excuses to be alone together. _Well I'll be._ Hank thought to himself as he glanced at the picture of his late wife Janet. _I'm trying Jan, I am its just not easy seeing my baby girl all grown up now and with another man. Even if they won't allow themselves to be more then friends._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Despite Hank's doubt of them actually meeting Kurt, they had indeed met him at a café. As usual, he sat behind his laptop with his eyes glued to the screen, and he would glance up every once in a while as they spoke, only to go right back to the monitor again. They discussed the security system and issues that could arise with it. It was a complex system; it would take hours and hours for one to hack into the mainframe, only to then be met with more firewalls. Kurt spent the entire time listing the different reasons why his was the best way to go, while Hope and Scott nodded and smiled politely, pretending to understand what he was talking about.

"Thank you for all your help with the security system, Kurt," said Hope, giving him a genuine smile. "As well as helping with foiling Darren Cross' plan."

"No worries, Scott's-Hot-Girlfriend," Kurt replied coolly, looking up to see Hope's face bright red and Scott mouth agape.

"She—she's not—not my girlfriend," Scott stuttered, unable to find the right words. He was still in shock from his friend's remark.

"Oh?" Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Luis said—"

"—Gah, Luis," Scott mumbled, obviously flustered. "Yeah, he thinks we are an item, so to speak."

"Oh, my apologies," Kurt replied. He then shut his laptop before he stood and left the café, leaving Scott and Hope to themselves.

Scott turned to look at Hope, finding her face still red from Kurt's comment. He had to admit, she looked cute with her cheeks glowing with the embarrassment. But still, he didn't mention anything about it. They remained in an awkward silence, even as they stood to leave for lunch elsewhere. They found themselves inside a restaurant, seated within a booth by a window. Once they were situated, Scott spoke up.

"Sorry about that," he said. "You know Luis and his mouth. He doesn't ever think before he speaks."

"Oh, I know," Hope nodded, frowning. "He called me that the first time we brought them onboard, remember?"

"Yeah, well," he sighed. "Luis is… well, Luis. He lacks a filter when he talks. You should have heard him explain how he learned about your dad's place and how it was rumored that he had so much money stored in his safe." He half-laughed at the memories it brought back.

"Yeah," Hope chuckled slightly. "I must say that _was_ pretty impressive." She then sighed and gave him a sincere and almost-saddened expression. "Again, I'm sorry about calling the cops on you."

"Don't worry about it," Scott shook his head and shrugged. "I shouldn't have been robbing him in the first place. Then again, if I hadn't, I wouldn't be sitting here with you, and I wouldn't have gotten to be the Ant-Man." He then laughed. "I guess ever since I was a teenager I enjoyed watching people do parkour, so I learned. You would never believe the amount of times I would break bones, and my mother would simply shake her head and sigh."

Hope laughed quietly, looking at him with interest and curiosity. "And where did you learn to blow up safes?" Asked Hope leaning in curiously.

"Well that was due to reading," he replied, and Hope rolled her eyes and glared at him playfully. He smirked. "Yeah, I know it must come as a shock. I enjoy reading, just not what you give me. Anyway, researched on different types of safes, and I guess after some trial and error, I worked it out and the rest is history."

Hope gazed at Scott with fascination and amusement. Somehow, hearing how he became a professional thief was exciting. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was stopped when she noticed a man approaching their table. Scott noticed that she was no longer looking at him, so he turned around and found the man standing beside the table, by now. Both of them smiled toward him.

"Are you Mr. Lang?" the man asked hesitantly. Scott nodded, and the man looked relieved to know that he had found the right man. "Hello," he continued. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Steven Mar, and I heard from your assistant that you will be needed a new security in light of recent development."

Upon realizing what the man was there for, Scott, who had been in the seat across from Hope, quickly moved next to her so Steven could sit down in his place. He eyed Steven. "Indeed," he said. "Miss Van Dyne informed me that you can provide us with two full security details. However, I need to know whether or not they are efficient. Thanks to the old Pym facility becoming destroyed, we can't afford something like that to repeat itself."

"I assure you, Mr. Lang," Steven replied. "These boys are the best. They will do their job."

"If I may," Scott added. "I would like to examine who you have in mind for these teams, and then my assistant and I will get back to you on our final decision."

"Of course," Steven nodded, reaching into his bag and pulling out a folder containing about a dozen names and recommendations. Once Scott took them from his hand, he stood up, nodding toward both Scott and Hope. "Have a good day." He pivoted on his heel, and within seconds, he was gone, and Scott had returned to his seat, reluctantly as he did so.

Over the course of hamburgers and fries, Scott and Hope examined the candidates. They all seemed to be highly qualified, but something annoyed Scott. Some of them seemed to have S.H.I.E.L.D written all over it. He shared his concern with Hope, who had reached the same conclusion. Security was crucial, but the last thing they needed was some snooping S.H.I.E.L.D agent in Pym Tech trying relentlessly to discover what caused the destruction and sudden disappearance of the original Pym building, as well as the rumors of men being able to shrink drastically in size. Hank was paranoid with all things relating to Stark, thanks to his deep dislike for Howard, which seemed to have passed down to Tony and anything else he did. Sure, the Avengers were great at saving the world from threats, but Hank wasn't a fan of Tony's self-absorbance.

"We have a problem," Hope suddenly spoke up. She looked up with a look of concern written on her face, but it quickly faded when she found Scott on his third burger, BBQ and sweet chilly sauce dripping all over his hands.

He stopped mid-bite, as if he had been caught red-handed with his hand inside a cookie jar. "Let me guess," he said, trying to act like nothing was wrong. "S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"Yep," Hope nodded, and then she smirked. "That, and the gross state of your hands."

"Want me to give you a hug?" he grinned teasingly, holding up his hands.

"You wouldn't _dare,_ " she warned with her icy glare.

Scott couldn't help but laugh as he stood up to head to the restroom to clean his hands. Hope rolled her eyes, stifling a giggle. When he returned, his hands were clean. "Happy now?" She simply scoffed at his antics before he began to focus again. "We'll need to get Kurt to make sure not even S.H.I.E.L.D can hack into our computers," he explained. "They can't hack into our facility or learn about those vials or about…" he then turned, glancing around the room then dropping his voice to barely a whisper, "…Ant-Man."

Hope giggled at the last part she found it amusing how much he enjoyed being a superhero. She suspected it was because of Cassie, but little did she know that he did it for someone else, too. At first, yes, it only had been for Cassie's sole protection, but now it had extended to Hope. Slowly, but surely, Hope was beginning to understand that. Scott glanced at her while she flipped through papers, so she wouldn't catch him gazing at her. Suddenly, Hope's phone buzzed nonstop with several messages. She sighed as she pulled it out and began to answer them. Scott took this opportunity to glance at the one women he loved on this earth. Everything about her was beautiful, from her short, dark, cropped hair that seemed to shape her face, to her sparkling green eyes that he once found to be cold and intimidating but now found brightening as she smiled or laughed. He never expected to be so in love with a woman in his life, not even when he was with Maggie all those years ago. Not a day would go by without Scott looking toward the future, to the day where she would be his; his to hold, his to kiss, and his to love unconditionally. He even thought about the day he would decide to have children with her.

 _What are you thinking, Scott?!_ Scott thought to himself, stopping short just after the last thought. He wondered if Hope ever caught him staring, but when his mind came back into reality and he focused on her again, she seemed to be unaware of his eyes locked on her as he thought about a future together, and not just a future as friends, or collogues, or as an exclusive couple, but as Mr. and Mrs. Lang. _Man, you've got it bad, Mr. Lang,_ Scott thought again, shaking his head. He was getting ahead of himself. He had promised her that he'd wait patiently, and he also made a promise to himself to help her lower her walls and defenses so he could bring out the Hope Van Dyne that he knew and loved. Well, he loved her regardless of who she was, whether it was the stern and serious Hope, or the cute, funny, and romantic Hope.

"Crap!" Hope's voice pulled him out of his trance, making Scott attentive again. "Kurt needs us back at Pym Tech, pronto."

"S.H.I.E.L.D!" they both whispered after a moment of wondering why.

"Thank you for coming," Kurt said as the two walked into the room.

"What's the problem, Kurt?" Scott asked inquisitively.

"Well," Kurt began, obviously annoyed. "Someone tried to hack into my security system."

"Did they get through?" Hope asked, holding her breath in fear, worried that she wouldn't like the answer.

"Fortunately, no. However, I was able to trace the hack point. I believe it was an organization formally known as S.H.I.E.L.D."

Hope and Scott looked at each other knowingly, and then focused back on Kurt, whose eyes were fixed on his laptop monitor as he typed in lines and lines of codes, his hands practically flying over the keyboard. It sounded like rain pelting on a windowpane during a thunderstorm.

"Kurt, any harder and you'll break that laptop," Scott joked with a hint of concern.

"Not to worry, Scott," Kurt replied with a smile. "With my new job, I will be able to a bigger, better, and more powerful laptop."

Hope sat next to Scott, who was looking over upcoming appointments. If he was going to get summoned away at a moment's notice, he would have to inform Hank of what he needed to oversee. Luckily for Hank, there wasn't much. Hope fidgeted in her chair, something clearly bugging her.

"What is it?" Scott asked softly, whispering into her ear.

"It's just," she sighed. "The security team. We're going to need one, of course, but it needs to be in the house, not outsourced otherwise…" her voice trailed off.

"I know," Scott laughed. "Luis would be a horrible fit." He remembered how nervous he'd been when they broke into Pym Tech in order to stop Darren from selling the yellow jacket and shrink vial

Hope gave a threatening glare, unamused that Scott wasn't taking this seriously. He held up his hands in surrender and muttering an apology.

"I just can't think over a solution." She groaned in frustration.

"Well maybe your dad has one of those magic cards." Suggested Scott reaching for the phone before looking for approval.

Hope nodded her head slowly then turned to pick her finger nails. Scott let out a deflated sigh and put the phone on loud speaker. It rang for a few seconds before Hank's deep voice filled Scott's office. _This is just great!_ Muttered Scott before speaking.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Scott sat gazing out the large window that overlooked the ocean. He tapped the solid wooden table softly as he watched the lights of boats flicker on the water. The stars seemed to be dancing in the sky that night as he took in this beautiful scene before he turned back to glance at the vacant seat opposite him, only to that find Hope sitting there. Her dark, cropped hair seemed to shape her face and made her looked immaculate. She wore dark red lipstick and her eyes seemed to be sparkling.

"Good evening," he stuttered as his heart began to race.

"Evening, Scott," Hope replied, leaning her elbows on the table.

"Nice place, huh?" Scott said, trying to calm all his nerves.

"Indeed. Let me guess you robbed a bank?" she asked teasingly, drawing a chuckle from him.

"No," he retorted. "I've simply used my money, which I earned, _honestly._ "

They talked about each other for a moment, not wanting to bring up work and take away this precious moment. Despite how long they'd known each other, Scott realized that he really knew very little of Hope. He asked the occasional question about her life, leaving out anything that had to do with her mother, since he understood how sensitive that subject was to her. That was something _she_ would have to initiate, and Scott respected that. After all, it was a touchy subject, a situation that resulted in a large rift between a father and his daughter, which ultimately caused Hope to become reserved and closed off to the world around her. Meanwhile, they ate a lovely three-course meal, and Scott couldn't wipe his massive grin off his face the whole time. Hope couldn't help but notice it, and her face flushed a deep red, making her all the more adorable in Scott's eyes.

 _Get a grip of yourself, Scott! You are gonna blow it_. His mind seemed to be screaming at him. He excused himself to go the bathroom to calm down. His heart was pounding furiously and he wondered if Hope had been able to hear it during their meal. He took deep breaths, ordering his mind to behave, and finally returned to Hope who had taken the opportunity to quickly reply to some text messages. Scott suddenly realized that during the entire time that they ate and talked, her phone hadn't buzzed once… she had turned it off for him. She made this special time about them, not about work or to respond to a cranky Hank. His heart felt like melting at her sweet consideration. She was changing, slowly but surely, and it made him excited to be a part of her life and to get the chance to bring out the outgoing, happy, Hope that he knew existed somewhere behind her hard, serious appearance. Everyday, she was slowly lowering her walls.

"Is everything all right, Scott?" asked Hope, placing her phone into her pocket and giving him a peculiar look.

"What?" he asked, returning to reality. "Oh, yeah, everything's fine." He didn't seem convincing enough, and Hope merely raised an eyebrow. "I was just thinking," his voice trailed off, not wanting to reveal what was on his mind, fearing her disapproval.

"Oh, I can tell Scott Lang," she smirked. "You've got that adorable look on your face, where you part your mouth open and you furrow your eyebrows." She giggled, as Scott looked stunned. "I pay attention." She shrugged her shoulders.

Scott stared at her in disbelief, wondering if he really did those things. Did it matter? Not a bit. Scott ordered desert and shared a funny joke that made Hope laugh for a while. Oh, how he loved hearing her laugh. It was beautiful, and he promised that he would make her laugh everyday. When Hope finally stopped she looked into Scott's eyes, and it felt like he was looking into her soul. Her heart began to race, and it pounded madly. She wondered if it would burst open and fly from her chest. Scott said something that she missed entirely; her attention had been so focused on calming her emotions. She watched as Scott leaned over slowly, biting his bottom lip as if he was wrestling with something inside. She leaned in, too, and closed her eyes and closed the gap between them. They were so close, when suddenly, Scott's phone went off out of nowhere, scaring them both. Hope jumped slightly, and Scott gave her a sheepish smile and reached into his pocket and groaned.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" he grumbled as he showed Hope the dialer, which displayed Hank Pym. He hit 'answer.' "Yeah, Hank?" he answered in an annoyed tone, causing Hope to smirk at him. Hank spoke on the other end, but all Hope could hear was what Scott was saying. "You what? When? Hmmm okay …yeah will do …yes I will drop your daughter off …now? …you what?!" Scott suddenly exclaimed, his face completely flustered and surprised. Hope was puzzled for a second.

He suddenly grumbled before he hung up the phone and shoved it into his pocket. He called the waiter over to pay the bill, and the two of them left after leaving a generous tip. Scott opened the door of his brand new car for Hope then shut it before hoping into the drivers seat.

"All right Scott," Hope sighed. "What did Dad want?" She hadn't seen that strange yet oddly cute expression before.

"Your dad saw us about to kiss," he explained. "Don't ask me how." Realization then sank in. "Crap," he grumbled, turning the ignition on and started driving. "Anyway, he thought that was the perfect time to call and say he thinks he has found the person for the job. Not only that, but also maybe some we can take onboard."

"Typical," Hope muttered. "He is so overprotective."

* * *

Hank and Scott sat opposite each other while Hope was busy in the bathroom. They were sitting in a café on this crisp morning. Hope returned to find Hank glaring at Scott, who returned an icy stare of his own. _What an immature bunch,_ she thought, a smiling tugging on her lips. She decided to sit down next to Scott, which drew a deeper scowl from Hank. _If only looks could kill,_ she thought. She had expected more from Hank, since he was her dad. Didn't he want her to be happy? He had been bugging her to get a boyfriend, get married, and have kids for god knows how long, and now the guy she had taken interest in was Scott. Why was he just now deciding to become cold and disapproving?

"So what do you think you guys will be having?" she asked breaking the silence.

"Um, I was think of two fried eggs, bacon, sausage, oh, and I love hash browns, so maybe get a plate of those, and coffee," grinned Scott, however he didn't take his eyes off Hank.

"Coffee and some eggs will suffice," Hank responded, determined not to be the first to look away.

Hope sighed and shook her head, wondering when these two men would finally act nice to each other and when her father would accept the fact that she had chosen Scott. Well, only she herself knew that. An unfamiliar voice interrupted her thoughts and she turned to see the newcomer. Hope placed him at mid-twenties; she observed his physique, which she noted was pretty impressive. He had short, dark, spiky hair and a clean-shaven face.

"Um, Hank Pym?" he asked nervously, glancing at the trio.

"Yeah," Hank nodded, giving Scott one last glare then turning his attention to the newcomer. "Ah, Sirus, I'm glad you're here."

The stranger, Sirus, took a seat next to Hank and glanced at Scott, who replaced his icy look into a smile. Hope seemed intrigued by him, and he shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like being around many people, not after what had occurred a year ago. He involuntarily shivered despite the warm atmosphere.

"Sirus Burke," he offered his hand to Scott, then to Hope. "Ma'am."

"No need for that," Hope blushed at his sweet manners. "I'm Hope." She shook his hand firmly.

"So, Hank," he said as he ordered a cup of coffee. "You said there was a job that I might be interested in?"

"Yes," Hank nodded. "Well, I've been watching you for a while Sirus. Some might say staking but I prefer calling it 'looking for the perfect applicant.'"

Sirus tensed up at Hank's words, his smile giving way to a cold expression. His fingers lingered near his hip, where his hand found comfort in his 9mil shield handgun. The cold metal felt comfortable against his hand. He composed himself.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I've been watching you some time now Sirus, and I believe you I can offer you a chance of redemption."

Scott's mouth was agape and Hank smirked. These were all too familiar words that he had said to Scott not long ago when introducing him to the Ant-Man suit. He growled at Hanks poor taste of humor.

"Yeah? How's that?" Sirus asked as his whole demeanor had changed.

"I know you are restless," Hank continued. "8 years working for shield, you had the potential to rise high in their ranks, and suddenly, you wind up 'dead' along with your sister. Why's that?"

"That is none of your business," he hissed angrily. He had taken the necessary actions to conceal himself and his sister. How had this old man discovered this all about him?

All his records at the SHIELD academy had been under his code name, Shadow, or Agent 32, to protect his identity, especially since he was a field operative. No one knew his real name, except for the high order, Nick Fury, Maria Hill and that double crosser Pierce. Oh, and his sister, too, of course, knew his real name. There was one more person who knew, and that was Josh Stephens, his late brother-in-law. He choked as he thought of the man. He swallowed hard, trying to fight back the nightmares that came flooding into his mind.

"Are you all right, Burke?" asked Hope when she noticed how he was struggling with something.

He snapped his attention back to reality. "How do you know that about me?" he whispered angrily.

"Like I said, I've been watching you," Hank replied. "Now, I don't like Stark, and I definitely don't like SHIELD, but your records show you were a good operative, you're a fighter and I need—we need some security at Pym Tech, if you're interested. The job pays well."

"If you don't like SHIELD, then why'd you pick me? Huh? I could still be secretly working for them." _Get ahold of your emotions, otherwise it will lead you to do rash things._ He found himself repeating what his instructors had taught him. He needed control.

"Well, that thought has occurred," Hank shrugged. "But you, with you labelled dead for over a year and haven't reached out to old friends, at least that I am aware of, Hydra is still a threat. If they knew you're still alive, they'd undoubtedly hire an assassin to come kill you and quite possibly, your sister."

"Is that a threat?" he tested them, an amused smile spread across his face. He knew he could kill them all.

"No, it's just stating reality. The job is yours if you want it."

"Look, if I take this job, my sister is to work with me. She's part of the job whether you like it or not."

Hank exchanged glances between Scott and Hope, mainly looking at Hope. The decision would fall to her.

"Sure, she is more then welcome," Hope smiled, nodding.

"Very well," Sirus sighed. "I will talk to her when I get back. In the meantime, good day." He took a business card from Scott, and strode out of the café, his hand no longer on the handgun. _Perhaps this will be a chance of redemption,_ he thought, whistling as he jumped into his truck. Now there was the matter of his sister.

"I don't trust him," said Scott once they saw him drive off.

"Hmm," Hank shrugged, clearly annoyed. "Well, we need someone, and I judge him as a good fit."

"Yeah, well, I think I will be doing some of my own observation," Scott announced.


	7. Chapter 7 part 1

Chapter 7 part 1

Sirus gunned his truck to the outskirts of San Francisco, where had purchased land many years before as a retreat if he ever decided to retire from S.H.I.E.L.D or needed to hide. It was a large property, and he had taken the liberty to build a safe house underground, which contained an arsenal that could supply a whole platoon of S.H.I.E.L.D strikers. He parked his car into the garage and opened the front door.

"Rebecca?" he called out into the house, placing his keys onto the kitchen table. The house was quiet, like it always had been. But this time, it was unusually quiet, because normally, his sister, Rebecca, would be sitting at the kitchen table, writing or messing about with technology. When he saw that she wasn't there, he checked the backyard to see if she was off taking photos, since the property was large and held many places where she would often escape to so she could be alone in her thoughts. He felt his heart sadden as he recalled the memories he had with her. She had always been a fun, outgoing, daring person, always ready for a challenge. That all changed, however, about a year ago, when tragedy struck, causing her to become closed off to the world, quiet, reserved, and she spoke very little. She barely left the property and always put up a fuss even just to go get some supplies from the supermarket. Ever since Sirus became a field operative, their friendship as siblings had drifted slightly, but he had always been a good friend of Rebecca's husband, Josh. After his death, he had taken leave for half a year to take of his sister, who had fallen into deep depression, broken and hurt, haunted by demons every night. He tried to get her to rejoin SHIELD, but she refused, so Sirus reluctantly went on anyway, but unfortunately, SHIELD fell, so he was forced to convince the world that both he and his sister were dead. It would take a lot to get her to come out of hiding, and he would die trying if he had to.

"Becky!" he shouted into the house, louder this time, knowing all too well she would most likely kill him for calling her that.

An idea struck him that perhaps she was down below, in their safe house. He had constructed a large network of rooms, hooked up with top notch S.H.I.E.L.D computers that he had 'borrowed' after the collapse. He built a personal shooting range, with simulations so that he could stay up to date. Rebecca would occasionally join him for target practice, being pretty skilled with a gun, and so he wondered if she was there. He reached the basement and pushed a hidden button that opened up a panel, which revealed a staircase leading downwards. He took them two, sometimes three at a time to make sure his sister was okay. Ever since the incident, he'd grown so protective of her, despite the fact that she was his elder sister. Sure enough, he found her sitting at a table, her eyes peering through a scope on top of a Blackhawk sniper rifle. He stood watching silently as she focused intently on her target. He watched as she pulled the trigger twice. Two shots rang through the room and he watched as they landed into the forehead of a Hydra dummy.

"Remind me never to be on the other end of your barrel," he said teasingly.

Rebecca looked up and noticed her brother standing nearby, his large frame in the doorway. She smiled softly at him.

"Ain't that the truth," she said slyly.

They spent the next hour firing rounds into simulations, the only sound was the loud BANG that came as the bullets were projected towards their targets. After spending countless magazines, Sirus broke the silence as they dissembled the rifles.

"So, Becky," he said. "I, um, had a job offer."

She glared at him for using his childhood nickname on her for about the thousandth time, but relaxed when she saw something she hadn't seen in over a year: there was a glint in his eyes, something that only he got when he was excited.

"Uh huh, and?" she replied, going back to her gun, her hands continued to put it away.

"Well, you know Pym Tech?" he asked, working steadily alongside her.

"That company that destroyed itself a few weeks ago?" Rebecca sighed with a hint of sass on her tongue. "Yeah, I know of it."

"Well, I met the owners, they seem decent enough, and they need some security, so they want me to do it."

"They couldn't find a better man for the job," she offered a half-smile. She wondered why he even bothered talking to her about it.

"Thanks Bex," Sirus said. He hesitated for a moment. "But I told them I'd only take the job if you joined me." He eyed her nervously.

She looked at him with shock for a second. "What?!" she exclaimed. "Seriously?" She sighed with frustration, and a moment of silence passed between them as they seemed to be in a silent argument. Sirus watched as his sister's eyes saddened and she shook her head. She began to swipe up the shells but Sirus grabbed the broom off her and began the job. She glared at him and scoffed. While he worked he felt both anger and sadness towards his sister. He felt angry that she was being extremely hard on herself. There was nothing else she could have done when it came to the situation with Josh. It was all so unexpected. Yet, she took it upon herself, like it was all her fault, which he thought was ridiculous. If it was anyone's fault, it was his own. Had he arrived at the scene earlier, perhaps he could have saved them both. He could have saved his sister the grief that was slowly destroying her, eating her alive every single day.

"Look, Becky," Sirus breathed. "Maybe it's best that you move on, don't you think—?"

"—Move on?!" she snapped. "Move on?! You expect me to move on and forget about everything I had with Josh? Forget everything that happened?!"

"No!" Sirus held up his hands in surrender. "Of course not!"

"Then what am I supposed to do, Sirus? I can't move on. Don't you understand? Josh died. He was my soulmate, my better half, the man who made my life complete, and now he's gone. He was my shoulder to cry on whenever the day took a turn for the worst. When our daughter turned out to be stillborn, he was there by my side the entire time. When I miscarried my baby, he was there the whole time, too. Don't you get it, Sirus? The love of my life is gone forever. I can't just move on, okay?"

Sirus was in shock for a moment. He knew that Rebecca had a daughter that had been born dead, but the miscarriage, he never knew about. "Wait," he stuttered. "You miscarried? When did that happen? You didn't tell me!"

"I didn't tell you because it happened too fast to do anything about it," Rebecca sighed. "Nevertheless, Josh had been there for me the whole time. I can't just drop everything and move on, forgetting about everything I had with him."

"But you can't stay here for the rest of your life, Bex," Sirus argued as his emotions got the better of him. "Look, I miss him, too, okay? And not a night goes by where I don't think I could have changed what happened that day."

Something inside of him suddenly snapped, and he crumpled to the ground and cried. He felt like a child sitting on the floor like that, his tears flowing freely. He didn't care if she thought he was baby. Rebecca had taken solace across the room, crying silently. Sirus sniffed and wiped his tears away. "I would've gladly taken his place if it meant that you'd be happy, all right? I miss the happy, daring, sweet sister that I've known all my life. But she is lost to me."

"She's lost to me, too," Rebecca choked out.

When he looked up to his sister, he saw the tears staining her pale face, the flow never seeming to end. Not only was she mourning the loss of her husband, she hadn't realized how much of this her brother had taken upon himself. Here she was, blaming herself, unaware that her brother felt equally responsible. She walked over and sat next to him and brought him to her chest and whispered soothing words. It kind of felt nice to embrace her brother after so long.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "If it helps, I'll give the job a thought."

Sirus escaped his sister's embrace and gave her one of his cheeky grins, though it was a bit solemn, before he gave her a big hug. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling that everything was going to be different. He just hoped that his sister would come back. 

* * *

"See?" Hank stated triumphantly. "He isn't going to betray us." He turned around from the live feed that one of the flying ants had been carrying around, following Sirus.

Scott gave him an unconvinced look. Sure, he had seen them talking and breaking down, but that could all be an act. Unlikely, but possible. He disliked the idea of having two ex-S.H.I.E.L.D agents working at Pym Tech. No doubt that the moment they arrived at the facility, they would begin to snoop around, and that was what they were trained to do. The dossier that Kurt had managed to grab from S.H.I.E.L.D showed Sirus. However, his name didn't match up. In fact, there was no name 'Sirus' on there. His file had many parts redacted, most likely to protect S.H.I.E.L.D's secret operations that he had been involved with. All there was was his agent number and one name, Shadow. Scott scoffed at this, wondering why the heck they didn't bother putting down Sirus Burke. Hope pointed out that it was most likely a security and safety thing, which he had accepted the answer quickly. The sister, on the other hand, had a different league of her own. Not much had been redacted. She hadn't been field operative like her brother, despite joining in on a few operations. But there was nothing except her profile and a role, and a paragraph of redacted information, but that was it. It didn't add up, unless Sirus had taken the liberty to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D and erase his sister's profile.

Hope looked a bit sad after they saw the live feed. "That poor woman," she said.

"Come on," Scott said. "It's probably an act."

"You can't 'act out' depression like that, Scott," Hope crossed her arms.

"Still," Scott said. "We have a hardcore brother, who seems to act on his emotions. He's been on what, over twenty missions in his four years of working for S.H.I.E.L.D? He has the record for lasting the longest in a duel against Captain America…" his voice trailed off at the last bit of information.

"Oh?" asked Hope curiously. "That is pretty impressive."

"Hey, I bested Falcon!" Scott said defensively, but he realized facing _the_ Captain America was a pretty good feat. "Anyway, and we have his sister, whose profile is inadequate and could be secretly working to exploit us."

"Scott, stop being a jerk," mumbled Hank, sick of hearing all the objections.

"What?" he shrugged innocently. "I just don't want S.H.I.E.L.D or the Avengers rocking up and taking control of Pym Tech and learning about our operations. Don't forget the fact that Hydra is still out there,and who knows how many agents are defectors and double crossers."

"He does have a point, Dad," Hope backed him up. "If word gets out that Ant-Man was created by you, or the fact that Pym Tech holds the technology to do that, we will have chaos." She smiled a little at Scott for a second. "But still, I don't think anyone can fake anything like what we just saw."

"Yeah, well, like I've said, you two are going to need them sooner or later," Hank said. "I just know it, and you're gonna be grateful at some point." 

* * *

Sirus sat down at the kitchen table while Rebecca stood at the oven while she cooked dinner, a hobby she'd grown accustomed to during the past year. The atmosphere had changed a little, which was a good sign. Sirus pressed a hidden button on the side of the table, and a large hologram appeared in front of him.

"Agent 32, Shadow," chirped a female AI.

"Eva, what news about S.H.I.E.L.D activity?" Sirus asked.

"Nothing, sir, it appears all is quiet, they still assume you and your sister are dead."

"Good!" he declared. "Load the systematics of the Quintin jet. I want to finish the upgrades on the aircraft in case we need to leave in a moment's notice."

"Affirmative," the AI voice said, bringing up the layout and the upgrade that Sirus had been working on.

He planned on reinforcing the armor of the jet to ensure it could withstand a barrage of SAM (surface to air missiles) fire. He had footage of the Winter Soldier take-down an entire fleet of jets with such ease, and he didn't like the idea of being shot down so easily. After the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D, he had 'borrowed' a Quintin Jet, and he disabled the coms and tracking devices. Without it, his sister wouldn't have been with him. No, she'd be dead, along with the two other agents he had saved that day.

"So, Si," Rebecca spoke up. "What exactly do you hope to achieve by taking this job?" She came up to stand close behind, watching him work as he finished up the final designs before he would begin to apply them to the Quintin Jet.

"Well, for starters," he stated. "We'd have some money to spend, and I think it would be good for you to get out of this place for once." He began to order Eva to open up the new armor specs he was making.

"Whoa," she gasped as she saw the armor rigs that her brother was building. "Nice!"

Always one fascinated by weapons, Sirus had specialized in weaponry, vehicle armor and body armor creation. No doubt he had raided a S.H.I.E.L.D cache that was scattered across the globe in case of such an event as the collapse happened. The rigs were very similar, except for that the fact that one was for a woman and the other a man. It was black, with a blue light emanating from the center. It would take the impact of a bullet, greatly reducing the damage. There were blue lines that spread across the entire body in a manner that looked amazing.

"This is yours," he pointed at the one made for a woman. "I call it the MX delta 9. It's an advancement of the old Falcon body armor. It's lighter, more flexible, and get this, those blue lines actually prevent cameras from seeing you. Been doing a little trial and error." Sirus sounded quite proud of his achievement.

"It's amazing," Rebecca praised him. "But you don't expect me to wear it all day, do you?" Her eyebrows furrowed in question.

"Well, it's still got a long way until it'll be ready for combat," he shrugged his shoulders before turning the holo-screen down.

Rebecca returned to the stove and brought back with her a large pan with meat, and a large pot of spaghetti. A salad was present and they sat eating quietly. It was always a strange dynamic that they were so quiet. Had it been a year ago, with Josh still around, there was no doubt that there would have been laughter and a whole lot of chatter, not this emptiness. However, he was glad that she was finally eating again. The only sound present was the clinking of forks on their plates and the downing of water down their throats. Sirus offered to tidy up the kitchen, allowing Rebecca to be able to capture the golden rays of the beautiful sunset they were gifted with each night. After scrubbing the pans and ensuring that the counters were wiped clean, he headed down to the basement and asked Eva to bring up the suits. The floor opened up and out came the makings of two pieces of armor. He soon got to work absorbing himself with his present task. Keeping himself busy stopped him from remembering everything that happened last year…

* * *

1 year earlier

Sirus stood with his heart racing as he and his best friend, Kyle Cartner, were about to take head point in a strike against a rebel weapons cache in Brazil. They had gathered intel that the rebels managed to have gotten their hands on a number of chemical weapons, and S.H.I.E.L.D was tasked to take them back, no matter what. He had flown from New York to Brazil and was quickly introduced to Agent Fire, the leader in control of the Brazil operations. He had been surprised to learn that Agent Fire was a she, not a sir. While S.H.I.E.L.D had high-ranking women such as Agent Hill, it was rare for them to be in charge of a hit. Sirus and Kyle had opted to be the first to breach the cache, and she readily agreed, probably happy that she didn't have to worry about her own life, since two men would be sent to their deaths the moment they hit it.

Two MP5 charges blew the door, and six flash bangers were tossed inside. They charged in, firing a burst of bullets as they began to sweep the room clean. Other strikers poured in after them, covering the two assaulters who began to move onto the next room, throwing more flash bangers and grenades before bursting through. The whole cache was filled with the smell of smoke and blood. The sounds of bullets roared past their ears, and then there'd be loud clinks as shells and magazines hit the floor. They could barely hear that, though, because the sounds of terrified screams drowned everything else out. Sirus took some grenade shrapnel into his shoulder as he rounded the corner. He grunted before turning back around, wasting every bullet at the enemy. The firefight was soon over as the rebels found that they were indeed outnumbered, with already the majority of their men dead or wounded. The chemical weapons had been secured and were on their way back to the Triskelion. When Sirus received a strange broadcast on his headset, he heard Captain America's voice talking about traitors and that S.H.I.E.L.D was infected with Hydra units. Sirus glanced up at the other operatives, and in a moment, everyone there had their gun pointed at one another. Sirus watched as Kyle Cartner, pulled the trigger at the female leader.

"Hail Hydra," he smirked as her body crumpled to the ground, Sirus watching in complete horror.

A gun fire showdown began soon after, and soon, the roar of bullets filled forest. Kyle and his Hydra allies took cover in the cache while Sirus surveyed the damage. _Kyle is a traitor?_ He couldn't get it out of his mind. Could it really be true? His best friend was one of those monsters. It angered him tremendously, but it also broke his heart. Suddenly, he saw that there were still a handful of assaulters loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D.

"What do you want us to do, Captain?" one of the agents asked. Sirus realized it was Emily, a girl he had a crush on.

"We are going to storm that cache and kill those monsters," he growled.

They wasted every bullet in their magazines as they raced into the cache. Sirus tossed his remaining grenade through the blown up doorway. It exploded and the screams of wounded Hydra soldiers could be heard soon after. Sirus nodded to Emily as she tossed four flash bangers into the room. As soon they set off, Sirus wasted two whole magazines, while those inside were staggering in blindness. It was over, or so they thought. There was still no sign of Kyle, until Sirus felt hot blood trick from his shoulder down his arm. He groaned in agony and slowly turned away, only to watch in horror as Kyle pulled the trigger on his gun, aiming at Emily's stomach. Sirus drew his handgun and pointed it at Kyle, his hand shaking from the pain screaming up his arm.

"Why, Kyle?" he asked angrily.

"Hydra is the future, Sirus," Kyle explained. "We are going to rule this world. Join us, Sirus. Join me, brother."

Sirus pulled the trigger twice, landing two perfectly punctured holes into Kyle's heart. He fell limp to the ground, death approaching him swiftly. Sirus fell to his knees as he watched his friend draw his last breath.

"Hail Hydra…"

Sirus staggered towards Emily, who was clutching her side and trying to stop the bleeding. He ripped off some of his shirt and tied it around the wound as tightly as he could, creating a tourniquet, before helping her to her feet and they left the cache. They were the only two left, as Kyle had killed off the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D agents. A lone Quintin Jet lay prone, its pilots dead. Sirus rushed into the Quintin Jet and reached for the medical supplies that would help in saving Emily from bleeding out. Once she was taken care of, he bandaged his arm up and shot a bunch of adrenaline into his body before taking his place behind the controls and flying off. He knew the location where his sister was stationed, and it wasn't going to look pretty.

Sirus arrived in Alaska at 0600 local time, exhausted and in a lot of pain. Emily was stabilizing in the back. He hadn't bothered to drop her off, not when his sister's life was at stake. She was stationed at Fort Nathin, and seeing that many hours had passed, he wondered if she would be amongst the dead. He had slipped past the border and was now approaching a burning Fort Nathin. He landed the Jet, leaving it cloaked. He handed Emily a 9mil S.H.I.E.L.D handgun to keep herself safe, and then, as he gripped his TX9 assault rifle, he stormed off the ship and made his way to the Fort. Bodies littered the ground everywhere, and the overhead lights flickered. They had suffered badly. He followed the trail of dead bodies, figuring they would lead him to the remaining Hydra agents.

"Are you with Hydra?" asked a frightened voice.

"No," he shook his head. "My loyalty remains with SHIELD."

"Thank goodness," gasped the male agent. "I'm Tom Parker."

"Shadow," Sirus replied. "Can you fight?" he pressed. Without waiting for a response, he ripped a rifle from a fallen agent and shoved it into Tom's hands.

"We shouldn't go down there," the man protested. "Hydra is down that way."

"Look, I'm looking for Agent 7," he explained, beginning to lose his patience.

The man seemed surprised. "White Wolf?"

"Yeah, her. See, she was working down there before Hydra turned up." He grimaced as if reliving the nightmare. "I need to find her, fast."

Sirus sprinted down the hallway. He would be able to ID any Hydra agents, since they would be the ones grinning and not cowering with fear in response to what was happening. He burst through a door and fired a spray of bullets, gunning down two unsuspecting agents. He kept going. His arm was stinging now, but he kept going. He had to find Rebecca and get her out of there. He got engaged in a firefight and wondered where the heck Tom had gone. The guy most likely had turned tail. Another rifle joined the fight and soon, the Hydra men lay groaning on the floor. He turned around to watch Tom slip in a new mag.

"Well, are you just going to stare, or are you going to go get her?" Tom asked, smirking.

Sirus ran forward, firing bullets at anyone that dared show himself. He slowed down at the end of the hallway and felt nauseous once he saw blood splattered on either side of the walls. Tom struggled over to a key pad and began pressing a combination. The door buzzed open and they walked through. It was a stairwell, leading downward. Sirus muttered something unintelligent.

"What number?" he demanded.

"Huh? Oh, 5 I think."

Sirus didn't wait. He withdrew ten flash bangers and dropped one down. The stairway erupted in bright light and he began to descend, tossing flash bangers as he passed each floor. He burst through the door to see a horrific scene in front of him. Rebecca stood kneeling on the floor as three Hydra agents closed in on her. Sirus slid two bangers across the floor and slammed his eyes shut. He felt the intense light explode. He opened them after a few seconds to see the agents staggering about in blindness. He fingered the hammer and dropped their bodies.

"Becky!" Sirus shouted, running over to her and enveloping her body against himself. "Thank God, you're all right!"

"How many times must I tell you not to call me that?" she growled as she fought to catch her breath.

"One more, I promise," he smirked at his joke. "Are you hurt?"

"No," she shook her head. "I ran out of bullets when those goons burst through. I was so close to death!" Suddenly, her face whitened, and her eyes grew wide with fear. "Behind you!"

"Don't move!" shouted Tom, "One move, and I will kill you both."

"Tom! I thought—" began Sirus.

"—Yeah?" he sniggered. "Well, you thought wrong, and now you'll suffer for it."

Sirus nodded his head to his sister, who had drawn a fresh mag and slipped it into her handgun. Sirus dropped to the ground in an instant as Rebecca pulled the trigger. Tom was dead before his body hit floor.

"Hate to be that guy," he said, helping her up.

True to her word, Rebecca was unhurt, shaken, but thankfully not hurt. The siblings rushed up the stairs, unsure of how many Hydra agents were roaming in the facility. They boarded the Quintin Jet and within two minutes, they were flying towards San Francisco, where he had built a safe house.

"Good night, brother," said Rebecca, letting out a large yawn.

"I thought you didn't sleep," he chuckled, taking his eye away from the armor he was working on.

"I don't," Rebecca shrugged. "But I feel so tired, I might just fall asleep. You going to stay up?"

"Oh, yeah," Sirus nodded. "I'm not sure I can sleep tonight. Besides, the sooner I get this done, the better, because I want to start developing stun blades." He suddenly began swelling up with pride.

Rebecca rolled her eyes, wondering just how many inventions he was developing and how many of them would actually be completed. She stood and watched him work for a few minutes, consulting to his designs then turning to all the metal he had lying about. She left him as he adjusted a facemask and began to work intently on the armor. She trudged up the stairs and took a warm shower before slipping into her bed, her body fought and begged to allow rest but Rebecca's mind would have none of it, it wouldn't allow that day to appear again. Soon her body won and she fell fast asleep and her nightmare began.


	8. Chapter 7 part 2

3 years prior

"Have a good day at work, babe," Rebecca smiled as she waved her husband, Josh Stephens, goodbye.

"You too," he replied as he kissed her passionately.

"Ugh!" Sirus pretended to gag as he entered the living room. "Guys, please would you just stop?"

"Should we stop for your baby brother?" teased Josh.

"Nah," Rebecca said, playing along as she kissed her husband again, over and over again.

Sirus groaned again before walking into kitchen, opening the fridge and downing a whole bottle of chocolate milk. While he pretended to be annoyed at their constant displays of affection, he secretly wished he himself had something like that. He was twenty-two year old now, and he'd so been busy with S.H.I.E.L.D that he hadn't met anyone he found attractive. Sure, there were plenty of pretty girls, but none of them were the right ones.

"Look guys, I honestly don't mind you kissing each other," he said. "You're married, you're allowed to. But _please_ , for crying out loud, just not in front of me."

Josh chuckled before punching his brother-in-law in the shoulder playfully. Sirus rolled his eyes, not amused with Josh's attempt to make him smile.

"One day, Sirus," Josh winked. "You are going to get married and you'll be doing exactly what we're doing. Trust me."

"Oh, please!" Sirus rolled his eyes. "That ain't happening anytime soon, believe me."

"Oh, really?" Rebecca smirked. "From what I recall, I clearly remember you staring at Emily the other day."

"Rebecca!" he growled

"What? I was just making an observation," she said innocently.

Josh poked him in the ribs and reached for a bottle of chocolate milk and took a large swig of it.

"So, Josh, you excited?" asked Sirus. "For the Helicarrier mission?"

"Well, yeah," Josh replied. "Apparently, this is supposed to be three times as powerful as the one used when the Aliens attacked New York."

"So I've heard," Sirus said disappointedly. "Wish I could be there."

Josh laughed at his demeanor. "Well, you know you and Bex could come along if you want a grand tour."

"Yeah, sure!" Sirus took him up on the offer.

A horn beeped impatiently from outside the house. Josh groaned before hugging his wife tightly, kissing her one last time, then heading out the door. Rebecca stood in the doorway, waving goodbye until the car was out of sight. She ate a simple breakfast before she and Sirus drove in her armored car to the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters. After being ID'd through, they parted ways, Sirus to the tactical command center and Rebecca to the technology division. Rebecca had changed from tactical to technology after marrying Josh, who at the time was a young captain who had impressed everyone from day one. While she was wicked with a gun (which everyone knew), she always had a heart for technology and had decided for a change. After all, she had plans on being a mother, and this meant she would have to take a break from combat. Occasionally, she would be requested as an asset to a strike team, so long as she could be on Josh and Sirus' team.

The first day passed by without a hitch. They returned from work, ate dinner, and then she took photographs while her brother busied himself with designing new armor. On the second day, Sirus had a surprise.

"So Rebecca," he began, trudging down the stairs. "Josh called me up and asked me to ask you if you'd like to visit him on the Helicarrier? He says he cleared it with the admiral and the headquarters. We'd get the day off if you accept."

"Yeah, let's do it," she exclaimed.

Sirus nodded his head sincerely. He wondered if, when he ever got married, he'd be so dramatic as his sister. They drove to the Triskelion, and instead of parking indoors, they parked outside the airbase. Sirus jogged up to the guard and handed him a data pad showing that they had permission to take a Quintin Jet. Sirus clambered into the pilots seat and strapped himself in. Rebecca followed shortly after, carrying a basket of fresh cookies and Josh's favorite sandwich. She glared at her brother upon seeing his _are-you-serious-_ look, rolling his eyes and beckoning her to take the co-pilot seat. She complied and watched as her brother did a flight check before the engines of the Jet began roaring to life. She clutched the side of her chair as her brother began to take off. She had very little faith in his flying capabilities, seeing he had taught himself to fly and had only barely acquired a flying pass. Despite her fears, she was surprised at how smooth he had taken off. Soon they were soaring towards the Helicarrier, which was hovering over the Atlantic Ocean. It was going to trial its guns and missile launcher.

Rebecca enjoyed looking at the clouds and pulled her phone out and began taking shots of the massive, fluffy clouds. Soon the carrier was insight.

"This is Agent Shadow, permission to land," spoke Sirus into the COM.

"Agent Shadow, you have permission to land, stay on course." Came the brief reply.

Rebecca tensed as they began to land, wondering if he had ever landed upon the carrier while it was airborne. He turned the power to the propeller blades and began to descend, drawing yet another surprised gasp from the woman. Rebecca unbuckled and strode down the gangplank and scanned the deck for Josh. He saw her and broke into a run before wrapping his powerful arms around her waist and twirling her around before he kissed her.

"I hope you aren't planning on doing that to me," Sirus smirked.

"Good to see you, bro," Josh laughed as he pulled away from Rebecca, going over to Sirus to mess with his spiky hair.

Sirus growled, disliking the fact that he had just messed his hair up. He gave a deflated sigh. If he actually killed Josh, he'd face the full wrath of his sister, for sure. She'd most likely toss him off the Helicarrier, or worse. Anyway, Josh gave them the grand tour of the new and improved version of the Helicarrier. Sirus soon got bored of listening to endearments, and he walked off. Rebecca grinned once her brother disappeared.

"I made you some cookies and your favorite sandwich," she said sweetly, handing Josh the basket she'd brought.

"Awe, shucks, babe. You didn't have to," he said tenderly.

"I know, but I wanted to."

She hugged him tightly, missing his arms around her body and the smell of his body that made her feel safe. He kissed her passionately, and she responded until flashing red lights interrupted them.

"What in the name of—?!" exclaimed Rebecca.

"Blast," muttered Josh. "That means that there are incoming missiles coming up fast."

Rebecca hurried with her husband and they reported back to the bridge, where there was complete panic as battle stations were taken.

"Admiral Gram, this is my wife," Josh said.

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am," he said smiling. "Josh, you lucky son of a gun. Now listen, this isn't a drill. Something is firing missiles at us."

"Are we even equipped to combat that many missiles coming at us?" Josh asked, looking at the incoming dots.

Rebecca watched as a fleet of Quintin Jets roared off towards the incoming missiles. She knew her brother would be amongst them. She shook her head at her reckless brother… so typical. She watched as he realized miniature rockets into the incoming projectiles. They exploded mid-air, some finding their targets, and others missing. She watched him spray a burst of bullets, exploding a missile before tackling another. The Helicarrier began to fire its guns; it shuddered as the large guns began to fire at the incoming enemy. Rebecca held on tightly to a rail, not enjoy this moment at all.

"Missile approach!" droned the AI computer. "ETA 10 seconds!"

"Crap," shouted Gram. "Somebody find it now!"

"8 seconds."

"Where is it?" shouted Sirus through the COM.

"6 seconds."

"I don't know, it looks like its on top of us," said Josh, his voice full of fright.

"4 seconds."

"I see it! Oh, dear . . ."

"2… 1…" _KABOOM_.

The Helicarrier rocked as the missile slammed straight through the middle of it, piercing itself deep into the interior of the ship. Another explosion came, and they watched as one of the engines broke away. Warning sounds and lights flashed as the carrier lurched and began to descend.

"EVAC, now!" shouted Gram. "Josh, get out of here."

Rebecca and Josh ran for their lives as the ship began its decent. They knew the Quintin Jets would be waiting on top for extraction. As they ran, Josh screamed at others to head for the deck. Chaos erupted as crewmembers ran for their lives. They reached the deck and saw Sirus standing at the gangplank, beckoning them to hurry up. The engines were roaring, and the Jet hovered above the ground. An explosion knocked Rebecca off her feet, and she watched as the ship began to rip apart. Josh grabbed her before sprinting towards the awaiting Jet. They were nearly there when a scream caught Josh's ears. He whirled around and spotted a lady carrying a child. He shook his head and ran back for them. Rebecca screamed for him to come back as Sirus dragged her into the Jet.

"He'll make it," he said.

He has to. She screamed inwardly. Josh had reached the lady now and was dragging her along. They were 5 meters away when suddenly the ship broke in half and they disappeared. Rebecca gasped in horror but found that they were clinging onto a ledge.

"Sirus, do something!" she screamed.

Sirus told the AI to take control as he fired his extension cable into the ship and ran out the open back, and he free fell a few meters. He tightened, and he was just within reach. He grabbed the child and soon got her to safety, and then he got the mother. He lowered himself for the third time, when suddenly, an explosion sounded as fuel tanks caught on fire, and a shower of debris hit the Jet.

"Go, Sirus! Save them!" shouted Josh.

"No! We're not leaving without you!"

"If you don't, we will all die!"

"But—" he began.

"—Babe!" Josh cut him off, trying to make himself heard over the roar of the engine and the explosions.

"I'm here, love," she responded desperately looking down at him.

"I love you," he shouted. "I don't think I'm going to make it. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, you hear me? I'm thankful I got to share my life with you…"

"Josh, don't you _dare_ say it," she begged. "Don't—"

"—I'll see you on the other side. Sirus, take care of her, you hear me?"

"I promise, man," Sirus said, trying to make his way to Josh, but the rope had caught on something.

Another explosion erupted, causing the section of the ship to break off. Rebecca watched as Josh disappeared, screaming at the top of her lungs, but she could barely hear him say one last thing.

"Stay strong, baby! I love you…" and then, there was nothing, his voice fading in with the sounds of the explosions… 

* * *

Rebecca Stephens woke up screaming, her body drenched in sweat. She sat up, gasping for breath. She heard footsteps running towards her door. The door flew open as Sirus burst through, his two handguns outstretched, his shirt missing. He had been awoken by her screams.

"Where are they?!" he asked checking the entire room.

Seeing nothing, he turned his attention to his sister, who sat gasping, crying, her face ghostly white, whiter then her normal complexion that was the complete opposite of his own. Her hands were clenched together, her eyes in fear. Sirus lowered his guns, switched the safety clip on, and holstered his guns. He sat on the edge of the bed and drew his sister into his loving arms, and she buried her head into his chest, sobbing like a child. He whispered soothing words, and soon she began to relax, but her body still trembled and tears still fell from her face. It had been all too real. She could remember it all so clearly.

"I'm sorry, Rebecca," he murmured. "I'm so sorry. I failed you."

She tried to respond, but her sobs choked her words. She felt her brother's powerful arms tremble and his chest heave. She calmed herself down enough to speak.

"It's not your fault," she said softly, looking up into her brother's face.

"It is," he said. "I could have lowered the Jet so he could jump on, I could have—"

"—He died a hero Si," Rebecca said. "He wouldn't have had it any other way."

They sat there together, as he held her in his arms while she buried her face into her brother's arms. Both of them sat crying and talking. Sometimes, there is no escaping your nightmares, but as they talked and cried, it seemed to ease their minds. They would finally have peace from their recurring fear.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Scott paced the length of his office. He was deep in thought and didn't realize Hope and entered until she coughed.

" _Oh_ Hope!" He said, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Hey Scott – did I get you at a bad time? Cause I can come back" She said noticing that he looked adorable when he was embarrassed.

"Oh no, you weren't disturbing anything. I was just restless about the whole idea of having SHIELD agents here, even if they are ex-agents." He said sitting back behind his desk looking at Hope.

"Well, my dad seems to trust them." She said taking a seat next to him. Noticing he was about to interjected she held her hand up, "look I know he's an old grouch and he has done things that have hurt. Which is evident as it left me how should I say – it socially awkward."

"Nah you're not awkward sweetheart." He said, unconvincingly. "okay maybe just a tad, but you are changing." This time he sounded genuine.

Hope smiled. _Its because of you._ She thought.

"Look they seem decent enough and they need help – " She said softly.

"You aren't kidding with that, they seem so broken – I mean I know SHIELD collapsed but I didn't think I've realized what it has done to agents. Imagine killing your close friends or having them turn up traitors." He said simply, "Any news?"

"Yeah Sirus said he'd be over after lunch." Hope responded, "And I still say she wasn't faking it."

"Whatever" he said before adding "Would you like some?" the question startled Hope. She gave him a questioning look.

"Lunch – would you like to grab some lunch with me." He said nervously.

"Yeah I'd like that." She said standing up, "Let me just go get some files off to Hank."

Scott eyes shifted back to his desktop computer, he finished off a document before sending it off. He got up and hurried out of his office and together Hope and himself walked to a restaurant.

"So – what's your plans this weekend?" Asked Scott handing the menu back to a waitress.

"Hmm not much – especially with Hank going on about keeping things to a minimal, especially if we are going to be chasing that agent."

"Yeah, well if we don't get the call, do you want to like go catch a movie or something?"

"Sure, I'd – I'd like that." Hope responded smiling.

Sirus pulled up into Pym Tech, Rebecca stared at the large building looking rather skeptical. Sirus either chose to ignore the look or was unaware. He parked the car before hoping out and grabbing a large gym bag with him, filled with weapons and bullet proof vests.

"Sirus Burke." He offered to a security guard at the front entrance, "I have job here as a security personal on the upper floors."

"You got proof?"

"Yeah –." He said fumbling for a document that Hope had emailed him earlier that day.

The guard eyed it before beckoning them to enter. Rebecca entered first scanning the building just like she had been trained, she looked for possible escape routes and entry points. Sirus clutched his bag tighter, before following his sister who had spotted Scott and Hope talking.

"Ah Sirus, its good to see you." Said Hope smiling, "ooh this must be your sister, I'm Hope Van Dyne."

"Rebecca – Stephens." She replied eying Hope.

"Pleasure to meet you, this is Scott, my um –" Hope paused not sure what they were. She wondered what Scott thought of them both, she recalled him quickly interjecting at Kurt calling her his hot girlfriend

"Collogue." Scott offered, giving Hope a curious looking unsure why she had hesitated.

"Nice to meet you Scott." Rebecca said aware of the awkwardness.

"So – we are going to be working for you guys." Sirus said breaking the silence.

"Indeed, come I'll show you were you will be stationed. Oh before I forget here." Hope said handing Rebecca and Sirus an ID card, "This will get you through most of the security doors and grant you access through the security checkpoint for the first floor."

Sirus just nodded his head and followed her as she motioned them to join her. Scott went off back to his office. Sirus and Rebecca stepped onto the elevator with Hope as she chatted briefly about the history of Pym Tech and their aims and goals. Sirus listened intently while Rebecca was busy studying Hope, not sure what to think of her.

"Ah here we are. In order to gain access to higher floors there is another elevator, this ensures that anyone trying to breach the facility will be forced to come here." Announced Hope as they stepped out of the elevator. She led them to a control room which displayed the entire facility save the top floor.

Sirus dropped his large gym bag on the floor resounding in a _thud_ He bent down and unzipped it before unpacking its contents. Hope's eyes widen as 9mil handguns, strange looking assault rifles, snipers, mounted assault rifles, flash bangers, grenades, extension cables, large combat knives and armor vests were placed neatly on a desk.

"Isn't that a little excessive?" She asked swallowing nervously.

"What this? Oh no it isn't excessive – " began Sirus holding an assault rifle.

"Yeah if it were excessive he would have brought his rocket launcher." Cut in Rebecca smirking.

"Hmm well I'm not sure if you are going to be able to keep all that here – even if someone breaks into the facility I'm not sure what the police will say if they find all these here." She said simply pointing to the weapons.

"Indeed – well I think some of them are a bit excessive, but you never know if we might need them, with all those enhanced people and such, besides I could get Maria Hill to clear things up for us." Said Sirus his brows furrowing.

"Maria Hill? I thought you – "

"Cut off communications with SHIELD? Yeah well mostly, but I had to let someone know we were still around. Besides I needed someone to clear Rebecca off the records, at least all the important stuff. Maria we can trust; she is loyal to SHIELD"

"Alright if you say so, the assault rifles, the handguns and the armor can stay but I'm afraid the others – "

"Oh don't worry I wasn't planning on using them, I thought I'd store some here, incase well, incase we ever got compromised.

Hope gave him a skeptic look, then shrugged her shoulders, after all he was, had been a SHIELD field operator plus an assaulter he knew what he was doing. There was protocol in SHIELD as well so he knew the limitations that he would have in a facility. After a few more brief instructions she left to go help Scott arrange a meeting with the members of the board about the launching of a new product Hank had been working.

"So Becky what do you think?" Sirus asked donning his vest strapping two handguns to his waist and two on his chest.

"A little excessive their brother?" Smirked Rebecca, proceeding to follow Sirus, however instead of the extra two guns she strapped a wicked combat knife.

"Oh and a knife isn't?" He countered.

"Must I remind you brother, who is the better fighter?"

"Well – no but just because you managed to get one extra kill because my gun malfunctioned in that latest simulation technically doesn't make you better."

"I used a knife" She insisted then grinning evilly "I simply used my brains."

Sirus rolled his eyes, but secretly was pleased that her normal self was slowing coming back. They set of to patrol the perimeter, getting a feel for the place. This time they both swept the level, looking for possible escapes, possible breaches, and their SHIELD instincts kicking in. After an hour of exploration they went back to the control station and watched the monitors.

The rest of the week went by without a hitch, much to Sirus's disappointment. As they trudged back into their home on evening Rebecca surprised Sirus by offering to help with the Quinn Jet. He grinned and told her to follow him. They made it to a large room which held the Jet, the entrance led out the side of a hill, which was concealed.

"You have been busy!" She exclaimed eying all the metal and wires laying about.

"Um well kind of, see I've just got to upgrade the shields, plus ripe off the armor plating and apply this to it." He said pointing to a strange looking metal.

"Crap," Rebecca grumbled began to help.

Sirus and Rebecca worked all night. Stripping off the armor and replacing it. Sirus sat wielding, while Rebecca stripped off the armor and tossed him the piece he required. It was nearly dawn when they stopped, pleased with their work. There was still a long way to go but it was something.

"Say Si – have you noticed anything weird recently?" Asked Rebecca starting to fry up some bacon.

"Hmm no not really, other than you seem more like yourself." He said starting to brew some coffee.

"No not that – I mean between Scott and Hope those dorks are hopeless."

"Hopeless? Nah they seem to be running the company fine, especially seeing the salary we are on."

"You are so daft brother" She groaned hitting her forehead, "I mean they like each other so much it's sickening."

"Uh okay?" He said hesitantly, "What I've never been in love – okay well I've had a crush but that technically doesn't count besides she didn't return the feelings." He said raising his hands in surrender.

"Sure, I believe you." Smirked Rebecca cracking eggs.

"What is so sickening about being in love? If I recall correctly, you were so moody from the moment you began to date Josh – _ouch_!" he growled Rebecca tossed an apple which collided with his head.

"No that's not what is sickening, its sickening that they don't do anything – "

"Yeah how do you know huh? Maybe they just don't want others to know." He said glaring at her.

"Trust me, I'm a pro at this kind of stuff, they obviously head over heels with each other but they are dorks."

"Maybe – they don't want to be more yet." He said slowly, "Maybe. They. Are. Going. Slow. Working. Through .Issues." He said emphasizing each word.

"Maybe but I still think they are dorks. What?" She said simply watching her brother's eyes widen.

"Don't think about it please – " He begged he knew exactly what was running through her mind.

"I didn't say anything!" She said innocently.

"We are not! And I _repeat not_ playing get them together – For crying out loud Becky let them do it themselves." He said digging into his plate and taking a large sip of coffee.

"Fine – I will give them more time, but I swear brother, if they don't make a move soon I will help them along – and you will _help_."

"Mah" he grumbled.

"Which reminds me, I still have to look for a girlfriend for you."

"Oh why?" He moaned, "Couldn't you have stayed the quiet, reserved Becky?"

"Oh I am still that, just not around you." She smirked evilly.

 _I'm so dead._ Sirus thought as he headed up to take a quick shower.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Scott groaned in frustration, it was a Saturday night, a weekend and he was stuck sitting in his office reading over a proposal by the board. Hope was at Hank's finishing off the suit and Kurt – well he was busy talking with Sirus and Rebecca, listening to some of their stories back when they worked with SHIELD. He gave a deflated sigh as he stood up and decided he'd pay them all a visit.

"And then she pulled out a handgun, shot the guy straight away before placing a whole entire round into two more guy's chests – well that's what I heard anyway." He distinctly heard Sirus say.

"You daft, I heard she simply cleared the room with a combat knife, despite them being armed with AK47s." Came Rebecca's voice.

"Whoa! For reals?" he heard Kurt's voice asked like if he was a five-year-old.

"Well it's a rumor of SHIELD see no one really knows other then top leadership, and a handful of operators."

"Hey guys." Spoke Scott entering the control room, there were pizza boxes everywhere and root beer cans.

"Scott – decided to join the party?" Asked Sirus who had grown close to him.

"Um no – just taking a break, is that first person shooter game?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Um. No!" Sirus responded grinning like a child trying to come up something.

"What on earth guys?" Demanded Scott.

"Look not our fault that this job is so boring! I mean its great but we have to have _some_ fun." Spoke Rebecca grinning cheekily as her kill count exceeded Kurt's.

Kurt muttered something under his breath before getting a double kill. Scott sighed in disbelief but helped himself to a slice of hot, steaming pizza. He watched as Kurt got owned by Rebecca who had tripled his score. Scott wondered what Hope would say if she caught them all in such a state but didn't dwell on it to long and joined in the fun. As Sirus and Scott began a new round the lights in the room turned off, leaving them all in the darkness. The lights flickered on, however this time they were dim, unusually dim.

"What on – "

Sirus turned his head to the monitors they were all blank.

"Blast." He said simply and rushed into the corridor to notice that the elevator was moving.

"Um Scott – did hope say she was going to come back?"

"No she was going to stay at Hank's – why?"

"We got company!" he shouted drawing his guns and taking aim.

Rebecca stood beside him her sidearm ready and her finger lingered on the trigger. Kurt had retreated in the opposite direction he would monitor their intruders and relay intel to them live. Scott was nowhere to be seen. _Ding_ came as the elevator opened up, Sirus tense waiting for a target to reveal themselves. Instead two cylinders came rolling out. Sirus ran and ducked into one of the rooms, Rebecca dove into the other. Light erupted everywhere and shrapnel was sprayed. Then masked men entered firing shell after shell. Sirus recovered momentarily and drew his line of sight. BANG came as he pulled the trigger, he ducked as suddenly assault rifle began to fire on his position. More gun fire sounded but this was a handgun, Rebecca. He looked up to watch four men crumple to the ground.

"Getting a little slow brother." She said firing a burst of bullets at the enemy who were now hiding.

"Not now." He growled angrily, he squeezed off an entire round at a man who had unfortunately chose to reveal himself.

He replaced the now empty magazine for a fresh one and turned to look at Rebecca.

"How many?" He asked as more gunfire erupted around them tearing at the walls and the glass windows.

"I can't tell more men jut got off the elevator." She said firing at any sign of life.

"There are about two dozen of them, all armed with assault rifles." Spoke Kurt's voice over their coms.

"Seriously!?" Shouted Rebecca who had now emptied a whole round of bullets.

Sirus ran and commando rolled into the control room, he would even the battle out a bit. He grabbed flash bangers, a handful of magazines and strapped an assault rifle to his back. Before joining Rebecca.

"They have fanned out, I can stop them from using the elevator but I am not sure for how long." Kurt said proceeding to tell them where they were.

"So we are hunting them." Grinned Sirus who tossed a flash banger.

Light erupted and they charged forward guns firing, tearing into the enemy. Sirus took the left corridor while Rebecca charged into the other one. He could hear gunfire erupt but he stayed tasked on his objective. He fired squeezing off two shots, both hitting their mark. He was too late, before he realized what had happened. An explosion shook him to his knees and he felt pain sear up his thigh. He had caught shrapnel. He growled before pouring every single round into the offender. He gritted his teeth and continue on, his body adrenaline was keeping the majority of the pain at bay but he knew it would end soon, leaving him immobile. He tossed aside his two handguns and drew forth is assault rifle. He switched it to semi-automatic and charged around the corner. He fired his gun, it jerked slightly but he quickly got it under control. Four bodies dropped and he collapsed onto the floor as well. He groaned in pain and fumbled through his vest, he always kept an adrenaline kicker there. He pulled it and jabbed it into his body, it kicked in immediately and he slowly rose and kept going. He wasn't sure how Becky was faring,

"Kurt how many left on my side?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"About 4 – wait are you wounded?" He heard Kurt ask.

"I'm fine – " he lied.

Sirus continued on, he wasn't sure where they would be hiding. He checked every room and had just turned one someone tackled him from behind he whipped around as he crashed into the floor. His rifle cluttered a few feet from him.

"Now you die!" laughed a masked man.

Sirus stood up and drew his combat knife, unlike his sister, knife wielding wasn't his forte. He managed to block a few blows before getting sliced on the arm. He winced now, barely able to stand from the pain in his thigh. The opponent charged him and knocked him to his feet. He parried the knife and found himself pressing his entire weight against his combat knife as the masked man pressed it down towards him. His body was screaming in pain when he heard a BANG and felt blood drip onto his face. He tossed the body off himself and groaned in agony. He lay writhing in pain, gritting his teeth.

"Si!" he heard his sister say running towards him.

"Are you okay?" She asked tenderly.

"Yeah" He laughed sarcastically before complaining "my thigh!"

"There are more of them about let's get you to the elevator"

Sirus struggled to keep up with Rebecca who had her gun drawn in her right hand, her combat knife in her left and her arms crossed like an x-shape. She fired a few rounds stabbing with her blade as she went. She whirled around catching a man across his chest, another appeared so she leapt onto him wrapping her legs around him. He fell to the ground gasping for breath while she twisted her body and squeezed off a round at the last standing soldier. They made it to the elevator, she summoned it then hurried off to eliminate any remained threats. Sirus sat down, his body aching he tore his shirt and bandaged his wounds up, his head felt faint from the blood loss. He heard footsteps approaching.

"They gone?" he asked warily.

"No!" Hissed a voice.

He watched as four new figure entered brandishing standard M4 assault rifles, _Hydra_ He thought. He fumbled for his hand gun on his back but found he couldn't. He watched as one of them pointed the muzzle at his head. The elevator behind him opened up and something caused the gun to slip off his head and shot the wall beside him. He watched as the four Hydra soldiers got tossed around the room. He watched as a man, in a red suit appeared in front of one of them and punched him before disappearing again. Sirus watched the proceeding before him. The enemy were getting flipped onto their backs and Sirus's wondered if he was dreaming.

"Sirus are you okay?" Asked a familiar voice.

Sirus watched as the helmet opened up revealing Scott. He reeled back,

"Scott?" he asked.

"That's for my brother." Rebecca's voice shouted.

Sirus watched her slide in front of them and empty her entire magazine at what appeared to the be the leader. Sirus lost consciousness shortly afterwards.

* * *

"There all finished." Said Hope proudly looking at her suit, she glanced at her phone it read 3 am and she wondered if Scott was still at the office. After all he said he was going to drop by before heading back to his place.

"Wow – Hope, that looks awesome." Said Hank nodding his head in approval.

"Thanks Dad, any word from Pym Tech?" She asked worriedly.

"Haven't called yet – " he said his approval faded as he thought about Scott.

Hope whipped her phone out and quickly dialed Scotts number, she was surprised when Kurt answered.

"Kurt – why are you answering Scott's phone." She asked worriedly

"Um – well you see, Scott is wounded and Sirus has lost lots of blood, um we are rushing them to hospital." He replied absent mindedly.

"Hospital? Scott? Sirus? Crap what happened?" she demanded.

Kurt didn't say, he only told her the hospital they were heading to. Hope brushed a tear away from her eyes and hurried out the door. She jumped into her car and held back the tears that were fighting to come forth. She turned the ignition and gunned down the road to the hospital.

* * *

Rebecca stood pacing the hallway, Kurt sat deflated quietly sipping his coffee and scowling at something. Luis burst through the door.

"Where's Scott Man?" He said anxiously.

"He and her brother are inside – we aren't allowed in." Said Kurt grumpily.

A mixture of expressions passed through Luis's face. He sighed and took a seat next to Kurt and stared at the tiled floor. Hope arrived shortly after, she was frantic.

"Explain yourself!" She demanded Kurt.

He raised his hands in surrender, "I didn't do nothing – he insisted on helping Sirus –"

"Sirus?" Her brows furrowed, yes he had said Sirus and Scott were wounded.

"What happened?"

"We got attacked by a highly professional Hydra hit team. It appears they were after something in your possession." Replied Rebecca who had now stopped pacing.

Hope bit the bottom of her lip worried about Scott. _Hope get a grip of yourself girl he is going to be fine._ She reassured herself. She and Rebecca stood looking at each other as if understanding each other. Rebecca went off to find some coffee Hope followed her. As they waited in line for the coffee Rebecca relayed the events before her. Scott had suffered a gun shot to his shoulder when they flushed out the remaining Hydra soldiers. He was going to be fine but Sirus was in as much worse state, his lose of blood and the shrapnel that had torn itself into his body had taken a heavy toll.

"You like Scott." The statement startled Hope.

She turned and saw that Rebecca was watching her intently.

"What makes you say that?" She asked calmly

"One for starters your eyes light up when you see him, I've walked in upon you guys twice almost about to kiss." Rebecca said slyly.

"Yeah well that's Scott being Scott." She said not wanting to have this particular conversation with Rebecca.

"Look he is going to be fine trust me, my brother has suffered much more fatal wounds, Scott's is barely a scratch. You should tell him" She said hurrying back to Kurt and Luis with a coffee in her hand. Hope stated at her in disbelief.

* * *

Sirus groaned his body ached, he glanced at his thigh which was bandaged completely. His arm was painful but no where compared to the amount his leg was giving. He turned his head to see Scott watching him.

"Ah your finally awake." Scott said wincing in pain from his wound.

"I wasn't hallucinating." Murmured Sirus loud enough for Scott to hear.

"Look don't go around tell people that I'm – Ant-man" He whispered.

Sirus nodded his head, he was still trying to process this all in. _Scott Lang is Ant-man?_. Sirus groaned as he tried to sit himself up.

"Quit being daft!" An irritated voice called.

Sirus grinned as he watched his sister stride towards him, a furious expression plaster across her face. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You okay there Si?" She asked tenderly.

"For the most part, but my leg hurts like the dickens. Looks like I owe you again." He grumbled.

"Indeed brother – " she said solemnly before laughing " hmm I wonder if you will ever end up clearing your 'debt'"

"Indeed, I guess time will tell." He chuckled ruffling her hair.

Kurt, Luis and Hope barged through the door. Hope ran to Scott's while maintaining a sense of reserve. They talked briefly before Kurt and Luis began to bombard question after question. Sirus rolled his eyes at Luis's demeanor and his rambling. After a few minutes Luis and Kurt left they would help Jim clear up Pym Tech. Leaving Scott and Hope pretty much alone as Sirus and Rebecca were talking softly to each other.

"Scott you scared me." She said her voice weaved.

"Sorry sweetheart I – I just got caught up in the moment, besides I couldn't let." His eyes trailed over to Sirus, "die"

Hope didn't say anything she merely murmured how brave he had been to not hesitant.

"He would've done the same." Said Scott, "but thanks its nice to hear you say that." He flashed her one of his famous grins

Hope and Rebecca stood watching over them both throughout the night. Both were relieved that they would make it. Rebecca watched her brother sleep peacefully, he stirred once or twice murmuring something incoherent but she suspected it was his nightmares.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Hank glanced at Scott and Sirus who lay on the couches, they had recovered for the most part but were taking things slowly. Sirus had recovered exceptionally quickly thanks to SHIELD healing salve that he had stashed away. Taking a sip of root beer, he turned his attention over to Hope and Rebecca who seemed to be talking about something of grand importance. _Women._ He thought.

"Yo Hank – you still there?" asked Sirus grinning cheekily.

"Yeah I am, why?" He replied looking up from the coffee table.

"Oh nothing I just wanted to see if you heard Scott's comment." He smirked.

Scott's face remained expressionless as he took a sip of root beer. Hank eyed them both suspiciously then rolled his eyes. They were probably up to something immature and no doubt trying to annoy him.

"Shoot me." He grumbled.

"No one is shooting anyone!" Declared Hope firmly placing a large bowl of fries on the table.

Rebecca followed bringing a plate of fried chicken strips and took a seat next to Hope and the two women resumed talking. Sirus smiled as he watched Rebecca drawing close to Hope, perhaps she would change. Hanks phone chirped.

"Looks like we are up!" He said jumping up.

Scott looked deflated as he reached for a handful of fries. Sirus grabbed the chicken and bit into it.

"Ah its hotiburnedmytongue!" he said quickly grabbing for his can, swallowing a large sip.

"That's because I just took them off you daft." Rebecca said shaking her head, wondering Sirus would ever learn.

Sirus ignored her as he tried again getting the same results. This time Hope joined in the snickering. Hank returned giving them all puzzled looks,

"I. Said. We. Are. _Up_!"

Scott and Hope jumped up, Sirus and Rebecca followed them as they went down into Hank's basement. Just a week ago Sirus and Rebecca had been let in on the Ant-man secret. Both Rebecca and Sirus had taken the news well, unlike Luis. Working with SHIELD in a world that dealt with enhanced people, aliens from other worlds and men who would stop at nothing to destroy the world, Ant-man was a piece of cake to digest. They stood around a large table watching as Hank brought up images of the Hydra agent.

"He reached out to his colleagues just a few minutes ago, I was able hack into the phone and record the whole conversation. Out intruder is planning to escape via a Hydra sub."

"Sub?" Asked Rebecca curiously, "that is not my ideal escape route."

"Well apparently we aren't the only ones on their trail – " Said Hank hesitantly glancing rather nervously at the two ex-SHIELD agents, "SHIELD has been tracking him as well, however their methods are quite different to mine and has only made it difficult for us."

"Okay – so we have SHIELD and Hydra in play, that is going to be one heck of a gunfight." Said Sirus looking skeptical.

"Look all we need to do is recover the vial then SHIELD can take custody of him. The last thing we need is to have those meddling fools finding the vial and then come investigating Pym Tech, I won't have it."

Hope spoke for the first time, "So we are all going to nab him?"

"That's another complication, it seems he's reached out to more Hydra agents, those goons who you guys um – killed, they have a facility 5 hours away, now from what I can gather SHIELD is on their way as we speak, lucky for us them being stationed in New York it will take them some time to get here!"

"I'll contact Kurt we are going to need someone to give us eyes." Said Scott reaching for his phone.

"If this is going to be a break and bust mission, a car isn't going to work." Said Hope, "I can fly and Scott can summon Antony 2 but what about them two?"

"About that!" smirked Sirus.

* * *

"May I present you the new Quinn Jet." He said flicking on a switch in a dark room.

"You have a Quinn Jet?" Said Hope in disbelief.

"Yeah I do", he pressed a button and instantly the jet appeared. They had been working on while Sirus had been recovering, well Rebecca had under his careful instructions. Sirus checked the fuel gauges and told them he'd fill them up.

"Wheels up in ten." He announced running a systems check.

"You managed to steal a Quinn Jet?" Asked Hank eying the large craft.

"I prefer merely borrowing Mr. Pym but if makes you feel better I did get permission." He said winking.

Hank walked off to quickly go to the bathroom. Scott and Hope both stood near the ramp of the Quinn Jet talking while Rebecca ran to the armory. She had a score to settle with the Hydra scum. She grabbed anything she could get her hands on and filled two large bags one for herself the other for her brother. It would be important that they didn't leave a trial for S.H.I.E.L.D so stealth along with minimal damage was in order. Kurt arrived carrying a laptop in his bag.

Scott looked at Hope, her suit looked amazing it fit her body perfectly. They were going on their first mission together and it excited him. She was very capable but he still couldn't help but feel anxious for her. Hope must have sensed his uneasiness.

"I'll be fine Scott!" She said reassuringly, "besides I'll Rebecca watching my back if things go south."

"I know its just – I don't want to lose you – " He said simply his expression sadden as he wondering if he could live on without her.

Rebecca told Kurt she wanted to ask him something to do with some technology thing she had been messing around with. Hank was nowhere in sight and Sirus was busy staring that controls. Scott couldn't help but wonder if Rebecca and Sirus had premeditated the who thing.

"Hope I – " Scott swallowed hard "you know how I told you I loved you? And I told you I'd wait patiently?" his heart was racing.

"Yes Scott I remember." She said blushing madly.

 _She is so cute when she blushes._ He thought, "Um well I've been meaning to ask you – but the timing hasn't been right and – it might not be right – " He stammered nervously.

"Just ask me Lang!" She said smirking, "you are starting to sound like Luis when he is blabbering about something."

"Hope would you be my girlfriend?" He asked. _Gah here comes the bad news._

"Yes Scott – I would love to!" She exclaimed they neared each other and embraced.

"I um never got to proper do you the honor." He said nervously, Hope giggled.

He leaned in and his lips met hers it was a short but passionate kiss. Laughter exploded behind them. Scott pulled back smiling into Hope's beautiful eyes that seemed to melt his heart. They turned to see Sirus laughing, shaking his head. Scott gave him an icy glare and Sirus gave them a sheepish look that seemed to say, about-time. Scott turned to see Rebecca dancing some sort of victory dance, a startled but smiling Kurt and an angry, fuming Hank, whose face was raging.

"I told you brother! I told you'd help me." Rebecca shouted, smirking at her dumbfounded brother

"Gah." Sirus grumbled, "alright wheels up."

* * *

"Ladies and gentle please fasten your seatbelts and enjoy your flight." Sirus burst out laughing. Rebecca merely rolled her eyes and her brothers antics.

Scott and Hope sat next to each other, smiling and gazing at each other. Their feelings were open now, but there would still be a long way to go. Walls still needed to be torn down but it was progress. Hank stood glaring at the couple, he turned to glare at Sirus and Rebecca who he knew had a hand in this, regardless if Sirus had been unaware of his sister's scheme.

"Alright, so Becca you just hit this switch and we will use the jet engines, seeing that we have a miniature runway that will suffice. However, if there is no runway, or if possible we switch to propeller blades." Sirus explained as he increased the speed of the jet. It lurched forward through the darkly lit runway, ahead daylight could be seen.

Within a few moments they were airborne and cloaked. Rebecca watched the large, rolling clouds and took out her camera and took a series of shots that she would later mess around with to create cool affects. Sirus had the ship levelled and was busy drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, while watching the landscape below him. Sirus wasn't sure if he dared to glance behind him and see what the others were doing. He did it anyway, Kurt seemed to preoccupy himself not daring to look at Scott and Hope. He glanced at Hank who was glaring at Scott and Hope with such an intense expression it could make milk curd. Sirus smirked at Hank's immature behavior. He turned around before Hank gave both Rebecca and Sirus and menacing look.

"Get your feet off the dash!" Growled Sirus making a shooing motion.

Rebecca smirked at him but complied, not before allowing them to rest for a few minutes longer. They were soon close in the proximity that Sirus took over the controls to look for a suitable place to land the jet. Forest filled the ground and he doubted he would be able to find a place to land, which was fine they could do an airdrop, but that meant risking detection, and while the shields had been upgraded, the armor reinforced he held no illusion that they would last against against heavy anti-air fire. No they wouldn't last a minute under such conditions.

"Find a place to set her down?" asked Rebecca quietly.

A shake from his head indicated he hadn't found one yet, then he suddenly banked to the left and grinned at her.

"Found one Becky." He said, "land this thing?" he turned the controls over to her.

Rebecca gripped the wheel. She flipped on the propeller engines and turned off the roaring engines and soon it didn't sound like they were in the air. She felt her arms shake from the nerves pulsing through her body. She had landed the jet a few times, but she wasn't confident that she would be able to land it. _I'm going to get us all killed._ She screamed inwardly.

"You've got this." Sirus's voice penetrated her fears, he had known.

She took a deep breath, banishing her thoughts as she concentrated on landing the aircraft. She began to pull downwards the jet slowly lowered until it hit the ground. Sirus grinned and gave her an approving nod.

"Alright, the facility is up ahead." Said Kurt addressing the team "so far I can only hack the compound cameras, which means once you are inside I won't be able to direct you."

"That's fine, once we are inside I can upload a Trojan which will allow you to access the mainframe, from there onwards you can hack into the camera feeds and aid us." Said Rebecca flashing a thumb drive.

"I will keep an eye out for SHIELD personnel as well as potential Hydra reinforcements." Said Sirus assembling a Blackhawk sniper rifle.

"We don't want to kill them." Pointed out Hank, "If we leave dead bodies SHIELD will be aware of a third party."

"Icers!" Shouted Rebecca, "we can use Icers, they won't kill the subject but they will be stunned and knocked unconscious." Explaining her outburst.

Sirus nodded his head chambering a long mag of Icers into his rifle. Rebecca frowned as she grabbed two SHIELD Icer handguns, along with a dozen extra clips, she was tempted to bring a combat knife.

"Here" Said Sirus handing her a familiar blade, "use it as a last resort"

Rebecca mouthed a thank you before strapping it to her back. Hank and Kurt would remain in the ship while Sirus would find a suitable hide where he could observe the activity on the compound. If – no when SHIELD turned up they would decimate the compound with machinegun fire before landing four tactical teams and storm the building at, at least four different locations, standard SHIELD breech and destroy procedure. EVA was tasked to fly the plane back to base if things went south. The AI had protested but after a stern command it complied. It was twilight when they finally reached the end of the woods, a small hill lay between them and the compound. Sirus found a perfect hide which allowed him to remain in the foliage but keep an eye on the compound and the sky. Sirus nestled down before flipping on his night-vision on his scope and peered through the lens, this was going to be a long evening.

* * *

Scott, Hope and Rebecca hurried up to the large fence that remained between them and the large gray complex. Scott shrunk down and using his enhanced strength broke the rusty padlock. He reappeared shortly only to shrink back down again, this time Hope joined him. Rebecca flipped on her covert OP glasses and could see Scott and Hope nearing the compound. She was to assist Hope if things turned ugly, this being her first field mission in a suit. She watched as two Hydra soldiers walked past, the posture was slacking, they didn't expect anyone to be coming or did they? Surely with all the resources they would be aware that SHIELD was coming for them or had their pride made them blind? Either way Rebecca didn't care as long as they got what they came from.

"Two of them heading toward you." She heard Sirus mutter through her earpiece.

"Copy." She said and she sprinted to take shelter in a shed that stood situated halfway between the large buildings and the fence. As she neared she caught sight of the two soldiers strolling towards the fence line. They didn't seem nervous or aware of the breech, it was as if they were tasked to do the same boring task. As they passed Rebecca's position she watched as they both dropped, she had briefly seen the nozzle of a barrel flash but no sound. She assumed that Sirus knew there was no one who had potentially seen the shot.

"Clear!"

Rebecca sprinted towards the door and noticed it slightly ajar, Scott and Hope would be waiting inside for her. She opened it quietly and slipped in shutting it softly behind her.

"Ah Rebecca, nice for you to finally join us." Smirked Scott proud to have managed to beat her to the building.

"Well if secrecy wasn't required I'd have beaten you here." She retorted.

"Let's not argue." Kurt's voice said calmly.

"I've lost visual of you guys but I've already wiped the footage of your entry and the dropping of the two guards." He continued.

Finding where Hydra kept their servers was going to be tough. Scott ran off in search for the Hydra agent and the vial while Hope and Rebecca searched for a computer or somewhere they could upload the Trojan and get eyes on the building. Heavy footsteps approached them, Rebecca levelled her gun but at that moment a man came hurtling towards her, he slammed into the ground, knocked out cold. Hope appeared a smile spread across her face. Rebecca relaxed as they hurried on. They cleared many rooms finding the majority of the rooms empty, they had little time left until they would be spotted by patrols or a camera depicting their whereabouts. They soon came across a room which held a large server, Rebecca hurried over and drove the thumb drive into one of the open ports and began to upload the Trojan.

"Trojan is in place." She said pressing her hand to her eyepiece.

"Good, accessing camera now" Came Kurt's voice, "Hmm it seems our Hydra agent is on the top floor, maybe thirty or so around him and two dozen stand between you and that floor. I advise caution and speed." Kurt's voice was now worried.

They hurried up to the next floor.

* * *

Sirus glanced up from his scope resting his eyes for a moment before bring it to his eye again. So far there was no sign of suspicion or compromise and he was glad, he would've opted for the mission himself but he was still recovering from his wounds and his sister would not have him out in full combat just yet. The stars were shinning brightly in the heavens and he turned to peer up into the sky, he saw faint green lights flashing briefly against the black night.

"Oh crap" he said before pressing his earpiece, "SHIELD is inbound to join the party, I estimate maybe ten minutes"

A burst a machinegun fire, followed with the whoosh as rockets began to fly into the incoming aircraft erupted, splitting the silence

"Make that two!" he said watching intently his finger resting on the trigger.

* * *

Upstairs smoke filled the corridor as Rebecca stormed up the flight of stairs. Hope had gone first to scout ahead and Rebecca and followed shortly behind using her weapons to drop any Hydra scum. She felt anger weld up inside her. _Control – must have control._ She found herself saying calmly. She fired off another burst of bullets as, submachine-gun and assault rifles joined the fight. Hope was appearing and disappearing landing blows against their attackers. It was quite a sight to see and Rebecca couldn't help smirk that Hope was dressed in the same colours as Scott. She had seen that the suit had two colours, yellow and black and the Ant-man colours. It just so happened that she also disliked the colour yellow immensely and was thankful that Hope wasn't using it.

"SHIELD is deploying their strike teams, it appears however Hydra has brought along extra assets" Came Sirus's deep voice, a hint of concern could be detected.

"Great!" She replied sarcastically as she quickly checked that the coast was clear.

"May I suggest allowing SHIELD to infiltrate the building and draw Hydra personnel away from our target making our job easier?" Spoke up Kurt.

Rebecca weighed the risks up. She wasn't sure what SHIELD's objective was but whatever it was, it was their best chance of recovering the vial quickly as well as their best possible escape route would require their assistances even if they were ignorant of their aid. Rebecca motioned Hope to follow her as they would find a secluded area to hide until the SHIELD teams swept through. They didn't have to wait long as the sound of heavy boots pounding the stairwell were indicators that the fight was about to get a whole lot harder. The sound of gunfire erupted everywhere, bullets tore through the building, tearing through glass, wood and the thin walls. Rebecca sat trusting Kurt's instructions that it was now clear to go. Hope went first, being nearly invisible she would be able to knock out any lingering Hydra or SHIELD soldier.

"Go, go, go!" Kurt's voice yelled through the com, clearing he was highly strung, "SHIELD has cleared this floor and those men in your way, proceed to elevator shaft."

Rebecca ran while Hope flew ahead, scanning as she went. Hope was enjoying herself, her suit proved to be reliable and she enjoyed her enhanced strength and the sensation of being able to fly. A bullet whizzed past her, clearly whoever had shot it was unaware of her presence, she flew up to him and landed a blow in his jaw causing him to jerk back instantly, she landed another jab followed by a swift kick, dropping the man, she warped out of her small size.

"That was impressive." Said Rebecca walking beside them.

A man appeared, carrying a hefty gun, "Don't you move!" he barked.

Hope froze momentarily in fear. Suddenly he flew backwards as if he'd been hit by a truck. Scott appeared landing two swift punches before shrinking back down continuing his attack. It was over in a matter of seconds.

"You're welcome." He said reappearing.

Hope gave him a nod. An explosion rocked the building causing them all to lose their balance. Scott gave a worried look, that didn't sound good. They hurried, there was little else the could do but either abandon the mission, let Hydra escape with the vial, get investigated by SHIELD or finish this once and for all. They opted for the latter.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sirus glanced anxious and the battlefield below. SHIELD had yet again launched an all out assault, he knew two teams had been successful in entering the large buildings but the other were now busy trying to hold the compound. He wondered what would happen if he fired a few shots dropping down some bodies but resisted the urge. Another thought about contacting Maria Hill entered his mind but that wasn't an option, they hadn't spoken since the collapse, she had been clear, very clear.

"Kurt what is going on?" he said watching intently as two more Quinn Jets landed offloading a handful of SHIELD soldiers.

"It is going good I think they had required the vial and are looking for an escape route."

"Good!" he replied, "tell me if they are going to need someone to cover them."

Sirus pressed a four key combination and spoke, it was a secure network with his sister.

"Becky, I am assuming that you have already downloaded important files."

"Why must you call me that," A frustrated groan asked, "you know I hate that childhood nickname."

"Well I quiet enjoy the name." Sirus responded slyly, "but answer my question."

"Yeah I did; common you don't think I've lost my touch do you?"

"No but I know you don't do that with others watch," He said slowly he didn't have to mention the other members of the team.

Sirus grumbled, this were turning ugly by the minute and he wanted to put as much distance as he could from what was going on below.

"Kurt is there an escape way?" asked Rebecca switching back to the open but secure com.

"I am looking now," Kurt began to hum, "hmm there I found one, at the office there is an escape chute that lead you underground, it leads out into the forest."

Rebecca hurried off to find Scott and Hope, she felt slightly guilty for lying to them. Honesty and loyalty were strict in her books. They won't understand Hydra was a personal threat, something that dug deep into her core and her brothers. S.H.I.E.L.D had been there to end Hydra threats only to find themselves to be surround by the very people they swore to stop. She would eventually tell Scott and Hope but for now this was only for two eyes. Scott was busy watching the the stairwell, below they could hear the heavy thud of boots shuffling about and the occasional burst of gunfire. Hope helped Rebecca push aside a heavy bookshelf revealing a slide. Rebecca looked a little skeptical, she indicated for Hope to go first then followed. She felt her heart catch in her throat as she her speed increased, she refrained from yelping knowing all to well Sirus would tease her about it. She hit the bottom in a a few seconds sending up a cloud of dust causing her to cough. She moved out of the way as Scott followed closely behind her.

"There - sh - e - a -" Kurt's voice was fuzzy full of static and the coms went dead.

"Crap." Muttered Rebecca disappointedly.

Scott announced that he would find this tunnel and trudge off first, followed by Hope with Rebecca trialing busy in thought. The thumb drive in her pocket seemed to burn against her thigh. She swallowed hard, trying to recollect herself. She felt more at ease with Hope but with Scott, her whole demeanor changed, maybe it was just males in general. _I wish you were here Josh_. She was startled by her thoughts. Josh Stephens was a touchy subject, she felt a wave of emotions flood her instantly.

* * *

"Hi I'm Josh." Said a friendly voice.

"Um I'm – " Rebecca stammered.

"I'm Sirus, this here is my sister, Rebecca." Chirped in Sirus glancing at the Treskilon, it was quite a sight to behold.

Rebecca glanced at the man who had introduced himself as Josh. He had a friendly a friendly smile, brown eyes that seemed to sparkle with some mischief. He was broad, buff.

"Welcome to the Tresk – its what we call the place for short." He explained, "so what are you guys here for?"

"Weaponry, armor and vehicle specs, plus a SHIELD operator." Sirus had replied.

"I'm not sure yet – I guess field Ops – the recruiter wasn't too specific." Rebecca found herself saying, she felt something tighten in her stomach. _Get a hold of yourself._ She commanded her nerves.

He eventually parted ways and Rebecca began to wonder if she would be seeing him around. _Yes I think I will._ She smiled. Rebecca had never given romance or love at first sight a second thought, she was busy, focused on her studies, her work and keeping an eye out for her brother. But something inside her clicked, Josh, perhaps she had found her soul mate. She wasn't sure, she wondered if her brother, young and naïve as he was, had ever felt such feelings. _I'm a daft – I've just met him,"_ She said before turning her complete attention back.

* * *

"Rebecca you okay?" asked Hope, noticing that she lagged behind.

"Yeah I'm fine – " She said in an unconvincing causing Hope to frown slightly.

They hurried on, unsure of how long it would take SHIELD to find them. After all if they had found this location, it was almost certain they would apply the following tactics and find the escape route. Rebecca shuddered at the possibility of being discovered. No doubt there were be some court-martialing in order. But she and Sirus were labelled, 'dead' permission granted from Maria Hill, although last she had heard she helped lead the Avengers. Scott soon found the tunnel and not a minute to late, bright blue lights could be seen behind them. They sprinted down the tunnel, making little noise as possible.

"Sirus can you hear me?" Rebecca said speaking into the coms.

"Yeah loud and clear – did you guys leave yet, because things are getting hectic out here." He replied he sounded like he was running.

"What did you get yourself into?" She asked not sure if she wanted to know.

"Nothing – " He didn't continue.

Rebecca focused on pushing her legs forward, they were following the directions that Kurt was sharing. Scott was his normal size taking the lead, Rebecca followed last making sure they weren't being followed. Rebecca drew her hand up to find it empty.

"Crap!" she exclaimed realizing she had dropped when they went down the chute. She pulled out her combat knife, the cool, icy steel blade felt familiar.

She kept running her blade pointed behind her. She wasn't certain that they were being followed but it paid to be prepared. Soon the forest erupted in gunfire and it reminded her of one of her early SHIELD missions. She was getting worried now, Sirus had always been cautious about meddling with the affairs of SHIELD ever since they were 'dead' now they were in the frying pan, with Hydra thrown into the mix. Hydra wouldn't hesitate to kill nor would SHIELD not with what was unfolding, they undoubtedly had the green light to kill anything that appeared to be a threat. She relaxed when she saw Sirus standing ahead on the ramp of the Quinn Jet.

"Go!" She hissed as her feet hit the ramp.

Sirus rushed for the cockpit and had the jet flying in under a minute. He watched below as the large rundown facility was engulfed by flames. SHIELD had evidently decided that they would blow the building to kingdom come.

* * *

Hank said nothing as they disembarked from the jet, back safely in Sirus and Rebecca's home. He simply nodded his head to Scott after the vial had been placed in his hand and drove off without a word. Sirus strode to the armory and began to clean his sniper rifle, Rebecca was close behind him.

"I lost my – firearm" She blurted out, Sirus looked up his hands didn't stop moving.

"Eh" he said shrugging his shoulders indicating he didn't care, "if it were my rifle, boy I'd kill you." He added smirking.

Rebecca rolled her eyes and helped stack the guns up neatly. She wondered what Scott and Hope were doing, she had left to give them a moment sensing that they needed some time alone, without any distractions. She turned to her brother who had a cold expression written all over his face. It disappeared quickly but she couldn't help notice something was bothering him.

"Spill it" she sighed.

"What?" Asked Sirus startled, his eyes widened.

"Out with it!" She said this time more forcefully.

"I – just wish I could've been there in the action not somewhere safe hiding behind a sniper rifle."

"I know the feeling – of you know being put on the bench so to speak."

"Sure –"

" _Listen to me brother!"_ Rebecca growled, "When I was pregnant I got benched from every field OP. I had to sit at home waiting while Josh and you were getting shot at."

Sirus didn't make any snappy comments, he remained silently letting the silence sink in. He had been broodingly ever since he had set his eyes through his scope. But he remained silent there was no point in voicing his anger, he knew well enough that he his injury made him unfit for full combat and engagement. He placed an arm around his sister's shoulder and she leaned into him and smiled.

"You had to lose the sidearm?" he asked raising an eyebrow, getting a giggle from Rebecca who was biting at her nails.

They finished packing the weapons. Sirus grabbed two glocks before joining his sister at the door. They went back to the hanger not sure what they expected to find. Luckily for them they did not intrude on anything, nor was there a hint of give away that something had been happening.

"Such dorks!" muttered Rebecca to Sirus

"Geez give them a break!" he hissed back

"I'm going to give those two dorks some help and _you_ , yes I said you are helping me. Or my name isn't Rebecca Reneé Stephens."

"You're going to put me in an early grave." Moaned Sirus, trying to hold back his laughter, to no avail.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12

Sirus powered up the large screens in their living room and dimmed the lights. Rebecca plugged the thumb drive into the portal and immediately a top of the line Hydra encryption displayed on the screen.

"You've got to be joking me!" Muttered Sirus handing over the keyboard to Rebecca.

Rebecca tapped away and within a few minutes had it all unlocked. What they saw was not pretty.

"That is a lot of money going in and out of those accounts." Rebecca said gazing at the millions of dollars being transferred, the figures were changing every second.

"What's that?" Asked Sirus pointing to a large sum of half a billion dollars.

"Project Overwatch." Stated Rebecca her eye brows furrowing.

"Overwatch? – oh no" Sirus voice seemed a little frantic, Rebecca stared at her brother, "Overwatch it was something secret in SHIELD – I never had clearance for it but I know it was big."

"So we are potentially looking at another project Insight" declared Rebecca sarcastically.

"Potentially, especially seeing that this money was moved just a few days ago, I think we should contact Maria Hill, maybe met her face to face."

"No Sirus we are not." Rebecca's tone was deadly

"Becky, seriously? Come on if she thought of us as threats she'd would have killed us long ago." He said frustrated, "besides you erased everything they had didn't you?"

"Yeah I did, but that doesn't mean we should just turn this over to SHIELD" She retorted biting her lip.

"Blast it! Look if its another one of those helicarrier projects this will lead to chaos. Millions and _millions_ of lives are in danger. Now I'm not saying we have to get involved but Maria deserves to hear this –"

Rebecca nodded her head in consent, she knew Sirus was right but somehow this didn't feel right to her.

* * *

Hank sat in his lab his recent ordeal watching Hydra and SHIELD clash wasn't particularly his cup of tea. He swore, things had gotten out of control. _Common Hank get a hold of yourself_. Hank felt relieved he had his vial, it was no longer a threat to the world. Ant-man was safe or was it? Hank grabbed the vial and began to run tests, they came out negative. _Those monsters switched it._ Panic seized his mind, that meant that, _no_. Hank reached for his phone this was not good, not in the slightest.

"Scott are you playing some joke on me?" He bellowed into the phone.

"What? Hank, man chill out, what joke?" asked a surprise tone.

"The vial its fake, it's a down right fake."

"Crap!" Exclaimed Scott, "that was the only thing found on the body, sorry Hank."

Hank hung up the phone abruptly he needed to process this information now. One possible scenario had entered his head and it was not good.

"Someone shoot me!" he groaned allowed

"That would be a shame dad." Said Hope striding towards him, a grin on her face, it changed abruptly, "what's wrong?"

Hank relayed what he had discovered, while Hope bobbed her head. Hank stopped as a new thought came to his head.

"Hope, was Mrs. Stephens with you at all times?"

"For the most part, she did go and check something – Dad no!" She said exclaimed not believing what her father was thinking."

"No listen to me Hope, this is a fake, now I know Mr. Burke he has a talent for all things metal, what if he's making a suit for SHIELD?"

" _No Dad you listen to me!"_ She said raising her voice, causing Hank to take a step backwards, "that is absurd, one that you think they are traitors, secondly why are you so against SHIELD/AVENGERS?"

"Um excuse me!" He puffed, "they are the reason why Hydra still exists, don't you forget that they almost nuked New York and obliterated it to kingdom come! Then there's Sakovia, look what happens when people decide they can play gods."

"I'm not at all for SHIELD but they aren't all villains, don't forget they were calling shots with limited weapons to combat aliens from another world!" Retorted Hope her hands on her hips. "Knock of it Dad, Sirus and Rebecca are solid."

"Still we should pay them a visit first thing in the morning." Glared Hank.

"Fine whatever!" Hope turned and stomped out of the room, _I'll show you dad that you are just paranoid._

* * *

Hope rapped her knuckles on the front door. She noticed a black armored highland was parked in the driveway. _Visitors._ She frowned. The door opened to reveal a tired Rebecca.

"Morning Rebecca" Chirped Hope, she turned to her Hank who was glaring at Rebecca. Hope rolled her eyes.

"Uh um – come in" Said Rebecca hesitantly.

They entered surprised to see Sirus in the kitchen with a dark haired girl standing leaning over the island talking.

"You do know Hill, that well this could be catastrophic" She heard Sirus speak.

"You know as well as I do." The woman replied, she turned and looked at the new comers.

"Um this is Hope and her dad." Said Sirus giving them a mere nod of the head.

"I know." Said Hill giving one of her unusual smiles.

"You are?" asked Hank suspiciously.

"Maria Hill" She said, stretching her arm out.

Hank fainted.

* * *

Hank woke up groggy, his head hurt and mind was pounding.

"Sorry he just does that sometimes." Offered Hope.

"No its alright defiantly the first time someone's fainted in my presence." Chuckled Maria.

"Well if recall Maria, Sirus flirted with you early on." Chimed in Rebecca.

Sirus turned bright red, at this. He mumbled something unintelligent. All the ladies laughed at his embarrassment. They had talked little obviously they were waiting for Hank to regain consciousness. Sirus suggested they go spar for a bit before getting down to business and everyone agreed. When it was quiet Hank stood up, he staggered momentarily but regained his balance. He knew they'd be in the basement, already he could hear the grunts and WHACK, WUMP and THUD as fists and legs connected. He entered just as Hope got slammed to the ground in a leg choke by Maria. Hope tapped out.

"Nice work Hope, you certainly lasted longer then Sirus did on his first time." Smirked Maria

"Boys!" laughed Hope, "they think we are weak!" then proceeded to recount teaching Scott how to punch.

"Hey – its because we aren't too sure whether or not you can actually take one." Defended Sirus.

"Ahhh knock off brother!" Laughed Rebecca punching him softly in the shoulder.

Sirus growled something which brought more laughter. Hank cleared his throat indicating that he was present. Maria glanced over at Hank and gave him a cheekily smile.

"I believe that we have something to discuss." She said straightening up.

* * *

"NO!" Said Hank firmly

"Hank common stubborn grouch!" Muttered Sirus rolling his eyes, "What Maria is suggesting is strategic and you know it!"

"Sirus leave!" barked Rebecca, glaring at Sirus.

Sirus raised his hands up in surrender and stormed out. It was simply what Maria was suggesting was the best course of action. It would protect himself and his sister as well as Ant-man from SHIELD and the Avengers. Hydra was a threat and it was as if Hank couldn't care. The quick fall of footsteps caused him to stop and turn around, he wasn't in the mood for talking.

"Sorry Si," Said Rebecca knowing she had hurt him.

"Its fine." He said shrugging it off, "Its just why does Hank have to be paranoid about this. Overwatch is a threat, Maria confirmed it, it was something Peterson started, its got _Hydra written all over it!"_

"I know," She said simply, "ohhh Hope told me that the vial we extracted was a fake, and that um – apparently Hank thinks I stole it for you."

"He does not!" He exclaimed, a somewhat amused smile spread across his face.

"Yeah I know its absurd, he thinks – thinks that you are building a suit." She laughed

"Well technically that's true, just not one that can shrink, gosh no way."

Rebecca flashed him a smile and rolled her eyes. She had no doubt that he had considered doing such a thing, but it would always be a fascination and him actually carrying it had a small possibility of actually coming true. She noticed that they had wondered into his workshop. Sitting on the bench was a new rifle. Rebecca picked it up and inspected it, it was sturdy but lighter then the TX9.

"Its light, has double the bullet capacity, increased accuracy and get this, I built in a flame thrower." Sirus said proudly.

"Can I try it?"

"Sure!" He pressed button and targets appeared.

Rebecca lined her sights and squeezed the trigger, she felt the gun jerk in her hand as the bullet propelled forward. She nodded her head then flipped a small lever, nothing happened. She shot Sirus a questioning look.

"Pull the trigger." He said simply.

She did so and instantly flame began to fly out of the gun. She released the trigger and praised her brother.

"Um the question of the day is why do we need a flamethrower?"

"Inhumans" he said it like he couldn't believe the words that had left her mouth, "plus these are so cool!"

"Indeed they are cool" said Maria appearing.

Sirus tossed her one of the rifles. Maria proceeded to inspect it. She took some photos of it. Sirus and Rebecca waved goodbye to Maria as she reversed out of the driveway and heading towards the airport. After she was out of sight they turned back to the house wondering what Hank would say.

* * *

Hank had agreed to Maria's suggestion much to Sirus's surprise. Now they was the issue of keeping an eye out of an Andrew Schmit, a German suspected to be somehow connected to Hydra. He had just recently moved to San Francesco which ordinarily wouldn't have raised any suspicion except that he happened to move the day Pym Tech destroyed itself. Only to have him enter Pym Tech a few months later.

"Hello, my name is Schmit – Andrew Schmit." He had said speaking to Hope.

Scott had shifted in his chair uncomfortably; he didn't like him the moment he entered. Hope suspected it was simply that the handsome young German was flirting with her.

"Hope" She replied shaking his outstretched hand. Scott shook it half heartedly. _My isn't someone jealous_

"Ah – Mz Hope," he purred, "I would like to make an offer, an investment of fifty million to Pym tech, I believe it will be the future."

Scott's mouth dropped open at the large sum of the money and the fact that Andrew was unashamedly flirting with _his_ girlfriend. Hope looked equally stunned and had told him that they would have to have a meeting with someone before they could consider the proposal. Hank and instantly grown suspicious especially after Kurt did some digging around. So now Sirus and Scott sat outside Hope's apartment, inside a black van and they were arguing.

"I should go in!" Insisted Scott.

"No way lover boy!" Retorted Sirus, "if you go in there you will end up talking to Hope for an hour. We have a small window to go do some surveillance before Schmit leaves his apartment."

Scott gave a deflated groan, he knew that Sirus was once again correct.

"Fine, just tell her that I love her."

Sirus pretended to gag, opened the door and scrambled out. He knocked on Hope's front door and Rebecca opened it up. Sirus entered and hurried over to the kitchen counter, where Hope and Rebecca had stashed a kit of gear for them to use. The Ant-man was out so handguns would have to do. Sirus headed over to the fridge before pulling out two large creates of root beer.

"What?" he asked, as if he had been caught red handed.

"Just what are those for?" both girls asked.

"Hey, we have a boring day ahead of us," Defended Sirus raising his hands up in surrender.

Both girls gave smirking looks, no doubt they were having the same thought. Sirus looked away, he didn't want to deal with this. He grabbed the black bag which contained guns, and phone bugs.

"Once you near him, I should be able to hack his phone and plant a Trojan on it." Rebecca said indicating to her laptop.

"Yeah I know." Sirus said he grabbed the crates and headed for the door, "Oh by the way Hope, Scott sends his love."

Hope blushed violently causing Sirus to smirk and roll his eyes. Before he got to the door Rebecca handed him something else.

"If you mange to get into his apartment you can upload this" She said handing him a USB, "It will allow me to see when he's using his computer and what he's doing."

Sirus nodded his head, at that moment there was a knock on the door and Sirus hoped it wasn't Scott. No instead it was Hank lugging a large suitcase and behind him entered the most beautiful woman on the planet. Sirus felt his throat go dry, he swallowed hard taking her in. She had long dark wavy hair, blue eyes that sparkled, she was slender and absolutely beautiful. Sirus could see some resemblance of Hope in her.

"Olivia!" Exclaimed Hope running over and giving the newcomer a hug.

"Hey Hope" she replied excitedly.

"This is my cousin/sister Olivia Evans"

"Nice to meet you I'm Rebecca." Said Rebecca calmly her gaze was turned to her brother.

"Uh – um – Er – Nice to meet – you – Um Burke Sirus, I mean Sirus Burke" He stuttered. _Get a grip man_. He yelled inwardly.

Olivia flashed them both a smile which caused Sirus's heart to beat faster. He shifted awkwardly and headed for the door.

"Hank – um – er Scott and I are going now –" He said his voice still stuttering he didn't dare look at Olivia. He turned and caught both Hope and Rebecca giving him curious if not smirking looks. He hurried out the door.

* * *

"What took you so long!?" Demanded Scott as Sirus dumped everything in the back and took the passenger seat.

"Um Hank arrived with Hope's cousin." He said slowly his eyebrows furrowed and a strange expression plastered on his face.

Scott gazed at Sirus and noticed that something was off but decided against saying anything. Turned the ignition on and they drove off to towards Andrew Schmit's apartment.

* * *

Rebecca and Hope looked at each other, they had found Sirus's behavior extremely amusing if not cute. They grinned, each thinking, planning and scheming.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

* * *

Olivia Evans reappeared from her room and found Rebecca and Hope whispering about something. She plopped down onto the couch, exhausted from her flight.

"So Hope how's work?" She asked closing her eyes.

"Work? Is well work." Chuckled Hope, "Dad told you about Pym Tech yeah?"

"Yeah he told me about it all, he seemed angry talking about it, he mentioned something about Daren Cross and well – " She blushed, "Ant-man"

Hope looked at her cousin curiously, Hank was overly fond of her being the only niece. Yet it surprised her that Hank and entrusted such a big secret with her. Olivia remained quiet her eyes closed but she wasn't sleeping, she was resting.

"So Rebecca what do you do?"

"I um – work at Pym Tech as security along with my brother Sirus –"

Olivia didn't say anything, she merely nodded her head.

"What do you do?" Asked Rebecca politely despite the fact that she disliked asking questions. She once had been the outgoing extrovert, chatty but every since Josh's death she had grown quieter.

"I'm a nurse – I got promoted to San Fran and asked Hope here if I could stay with her." Olivia replied opening her eyes, "Lucky for me I start in a week's time. Say Hope could you show me around Pym Tech sometime this week."

"I think I can arrange something." Replied Hope flashing a suspicious smile.

* * *

Scott sat in the back of the van watching the various monitors rigged up. They displayed what was going on around the van. Sirus had left and had taken a stroll as to not draw attention. He wondered where Sirus had gone, it had been 30minutes before Sirus had left. He heard the driver door open and quickly slam and the van roared to life.

"Sirus what did you do?" Scott asked.

"Nothing, other then I broke in and planted the files on Andrew's computer. I just managed to escape before getting caught."

"Dude was that even part of the plan?" Asked Scott in an annoyed tone.

"Yeah it is, chill out, I'm just going to do a lap then park over near a café which will allow me to watch his place without looking suspicious." Scott detected a hint of cockiness.

"And why is it I'm stuck in the van?" complained Scott.

"Scott – we've been over this like a hundred times, _his seen your face!_ Do I need to remind you again?"

Scott muttered something unintelligent while Sirus gave a small chuckle. It had been an issue for Scott as he had actually sat face to face with Andrew Schmit, which meant that he was a liability if he didn't do surveillance from the van. Sirus on the other hand was free from being recognized. The car parked and Scott heard the door shut as Sirus departed, most likely for lunch. Scott sat watching the live feeds from the numerous cameras hidden on the van. Scott was about to take a small nap when he noticed a car park on the opposite side of the road.

"Rebecca come in." He said in his mic.

"Yeah?" Came a reply

"Show me the recent feed." He said, he needed to see something.

The captured feed came through on one of the monitors. He watched intently, there 30 minutes earlier the car had drove on by. Something was definitely up, Scott turned back to the live feed to watch four large men exist and start walking up the street, some on the opposite side. He watched a woman stepped out of the car and approached the apartment where Schmit was staying.

"Sirus are you getting this?"

"Yeah Scott I am – can you tell who they are?"

"Why you asking me? Aren't you a SHIELD agent." Retorted Scott

"Well they ain't Hydra" Sirus responded after a moment of silence had lapsed, "Man they are good!"

Scott watched as a file was swapped most discreetly that it to anyone who had a quick glimpse would see nothing of the exchange. Afterwards the woman walked over to the café where Sirus was sitting. Scott watched the 25-year-old sit quietly eating playing on his phone, he knew for certain Sirus was snapping as many photos as possible. After an hour the woman left along with her goons. Sirus re-entered the car and turned the ignition and drove off. Scott scurried over to the passenger seat and glanced at a take-away burger. Sirus indicated that it was for him as he focused on the traffic ahead. Scott realized they were not returning to Hope's apartment as they had originally planned. Scott watched a car that was ahead, black with the number plate XI8798, the same that had dropped the package.

"What are you thinking?" asked Scott through a mouthful of burger.

"What does it look like?" growled Sirus, rolling his eyes, "its clear you don't understand how this works. We have a third party involved here – look I'll explain it all when we get back, this is just standard intel gathering." He gave Scott and apologetic look.

Suddenly the black car sped up and crossed the lights just as they turned red. Sirus slammed the brakes on and growled angrily.

* * *

Sirus remained silent the entire length back home. Scott didn't mention anything, he didn't want a knuckle sandwich, especially from a guy who could KO him in a single punch, if it was delivered right. After parking the car, they went up and knocked on the door. Hope opened the door and grinned as she quickly hugged Scott, Sirus coughed letting them know he was present.

"Sirus –" Said Hope noticing his scowl on his face.

Sirus didn't say anything in return and entered the apartment. Hope shot Scott an accusing look. Scott raised his hands to show in surrender making a gesture that he was innocent. Hope gave a disapproving nod then turned to follow Sirus, who was fuming silently. She found Sirus brooding at the kitchen counter, a case of ginger beer opened with a bottle already downed.

"You want to talk about it?" She asked calmly, the demeanor in his eyes were of anger and confusion.

"Not- really" he said finishing the second bottle and reached for the third.

"Sirus something is obviously eating away at you."

"Ya think?" He said faking a laugh, "I got blown tailing, I'm good, that just doesn't happen to me"

"Well perhaps they were good!" She froze that was not what she had intended to say.

Sirus snorted and looked up at her, "Your darn right about that, they were professionals. We are going to have to get Kurt to run the car plates, see who owns it. I got pictures of a mysterious lady who had a small detail, armed like a little army. Handguns, submachine guns hidden in their jackets."

Hope nodded, "Don't beat yourself up on this."

Sirus nodded, "Sorry about my behavior – my minds been – occupied." He said stuttering the last words as he caught sight of Olivia.

Hope noticed that Sirus was swallowing hard, his looked nervous and she smirked, knowing what, was going on. She turned around to see Olivia watching them both. It didn't take a genius to realize that Sirus Burke, the man who held the record for standing he longest against _the_ Captain America, ambitious SHIELD operative, daring and outgoing young man, was in fact smitten with Olivia Evens. Hope smiled cheekily before saying,

"Sirus, Olivia would like a tour of Pym Tech, Scott and I have a lot of work tomorrow getting ready for a business proposal, could you please take her on a tour?"

Sirus was caught dumbfounded, "Um – er – yeah I can – um do that." He said nervously, and flashed Olivia a small smile.

"Excellent." Replied Hope she turned to see a grinning Rebecca.

* * *

"So this is um Pym Tech." Announced Sirus nervously as he led her about the facility explaining to the best of his ability the different sections of the Pym building.

"Thanks Sirus."

"Uh – your welcome Olivia." He said his throat when dry as he looked at her. _She's beautiful._ He caught himself thinking.

"Sirus, get up here, Kurt found the owner of the car plate, and I think we've found out who the lady is." Hope's voice came through his earpiece, "Oh and bring Olivia up."

Sirus motioned Olivia to follow him. As they stepped off the elevator lift Hope rushed over to them.

"Olivia, did you like the tour?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah I did, Sirus was great."

Sirus went over to his station to find Kurt busy projecting images onto the large screen.

"So I ran the car plate it belongs to Mara Finch, I've checked the records but there is no Mara Finch. Who ever this lady is, she's a ghost." Began Kurt, "Hope had me scan internet for similar faces and we got 12 positive alias."

"Any idea who she works for?" Sirus asked looking at the face of the woman.

"No, I'm going to say she's a bounty hunter, but that's because she has no record on SHIELD and she doesn't appear to be the Hydra type."

"You ran this through Maria? Most high level operators aren't listed, it keeps SHIELD and the operator safe from any exposure."

"Hope sent it off to her this morning."

"Any news from Bex and Scott?"

"They are tailing Andrew Schmit as we speak."

Sirus frowned there was something wrong about this Andrew Schmit but he couldn't put a finger on it. Evidence showed he worked with Hydra but talking to an unknown party was off. Hydra stuck to themselves, often employing their own agents to get things done.

"Hey Sirus, Olivia and I are going to go head off and get some lunch want to come?"

"Um – sure." He said, Hope watched him slip a second handgun into his holster.

* * *

"Was Sirus acting strange when you and him left yesterday?" Asked Rebecca curiously.

"Yeah he was why?" asked Scott adjusting his hat to cover his eyes.

"Oh just curiosity." She said Rebecca sped up managing to cross the traffic light before it turned red.

They had spent the morning following Andrew Schmit, he was driving slowly going no where in particular. Rebecca groaned as the came across a red light, Schmit's car was three in front. Scott nudged Rebecca to look, she turned her eyes away and watched as a motorcycle approached Schmit's car and a small white envelope was passed through the window, the lights changed and they went separate ways. Rebecca cursed under her breath, they were good. Too good and they defiantly weren't Hydra.

"What was that?"

"That was called a pretty sweet handoff, these guys are good, but what is their connection with Schmit, they aren't Hydra yet they are working with someone who may be associated with them."

* * *

Sirus was on edge, he had a feeling that something bad was about to go down. It was the same feeling he had when he thought he had lost Rebecca. He shifted uneasily in his chair, his hand was resting on his handgun. The lunch went without a hitch and he spoke little, he couldn't believe how awkward it was to speak when Olivia was around. _Do I like her?_ He asked himself. After they had finished eating he allowed them both to walk in front and he walked behind them, this way he wouldn't be caught staring at Olivia. A car screeched to a halt alongside Hope and masked men jumped out of the car. Sirus drew his gun in an instant and fire two shots.

"RUN!" He yelled as squeezed off two more shots.

He ducked behind a parked car. He heard bullets hit the car he was hiding behind, Hope and Olivia were running but two goons were hot on their trail and he had two more firing with assault rifles. Sirus fired two shots dropping both of them to their knees moaning in pain. Sirus ran to the idle car jumped inside and took off, he didn't bother strapping the seatbelt in as he searched for Olivia and Hope. He replaced the magazine and soon caught sight of them, their pursuers not far behind. Sirus wound the window down and fired a shot, catching one of the men in the shoulder, the other stopped and brought out a handgun and began firing into the car. Sirus ducked down to protect his head, he swung up to the girls.

"GET IN!" He yelled.

They scrambled in and soon they were off. Sirus looked in his rearview mirror as two black unmarked highlanders gave chase.

"Crap!" Muttered Sirus.

Sirus watched as the muzzle of a handgun appeared out of the front window if the highlander. Sirus hit the accelerator and passed the gun over to Hope.

"How goods your aim?" he asked.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 14

Hope shot Sirus a grin as she landed two perfectly placed shot onto the windscreen of the leading car, unfortunately it was bullet proof and did little other then place large cracks. She muttered something unintelligent as she changed her target aiming at the tires. Sirus began to swerve, switching lanes making them a harder target to hit.

"Olivia call Rebecca or Scott." Shouted Sirus tossing her his phone, Olivia remained quite calm despite their circumstance which surprised Sirus, that was not what he was expecting.

"Sirus at our 6!" Shouted Hope from the back seat.

Sirus switched lane as a burst of rifle fire erupted. The glass became blurry, Hope squeezed off another round of bullets before asking for an extra mag. Sirus reached for his waist and drew out two more mags, it was all they had.

"Is there anything bigger in the car?" Asked Sirus racing through a red light, the highlanders were slowly gaining and traffic was thinning. People were honking and screaming as rifle fire filled the air.

"Yeah this?" said Hope lifting up an assault rifle.

"Olivia did you get through?" A simply no was the only response.

"Take the wheel." Said Sirus he grabbed the rifle and lowered his window.

His foot was still on the accelerator as he leaned out the window and fired a burst of shots taking out the tires of the leading Highlander. He quickly took back the wheel of Olivia and handed the rifle back to Hope. Sirus knew that the car behind them would undoubtedly try the same thing. Sirus's phone began to ring and he answered placing in on loud speaker.

"BECKY!" He said before honking his horn.

"Sirus, how many time do I –" Rebecca's cranky voice filled the room, "What was that?" she demanded

"Hey Rebecca this is Olivia; we are being chased."

"Chased!?" Came a cry.

"Crap, Sirus were are you?" Demanded Rebecca

"Not entirely sure!" Sirus replied, "Take the wheel again Olivia." He shouted taking the rifle back and firing a burst of shots into the incoming vehicle.

"Olivia listen to me, turn on Sirus's tracking app on." Spoke Rebecca.

Sirus was now in control again, however when Sirus looked on the side mirrors he noticed the black highlander was no where insight and red and blue flashing lights and sirens were blearing.

"PULL OVER TO THE SIDE NOW!" Came a voice, Sirus slowed down and pulled over, four officers approached the car slowly, "Hands on the steering wheel."

Sirus complied but kept his foot next to the accelerator, he wasn't taking any chanced.

"Hope?" asked a curious voice.

Hope turned to see none other then Jim standing there. Jim motioned them to step out of the car.

"What's going on?"

Hope began to recount her tale and Sirus was even more surprised that Olivia had remained this calm for so long, previously he had thought it to be under the influence of adrenaline but she stood collected which was very impressive. A honk from a nearby car indicated the Scott and Rebecca had arrived. Rebecca left the car running idly as she went to check on her brother. She punched Sirus in the arm causing him to wince.

"Was that really necessary?" he complained rubbing it slowly.

"Yeah it was!" She fumed, "you daft Sirus,"

"Hey, we tried calling you." He retorted defensively, "besides it's not like you could have helped the situation, they had assault rifles which would have torn through the interior of the van."

Rebecca was glaring at Sirus who like always wasn't taking the whole situation seriously. She felt like slapping him in the face but in present company that would not go down well. She gave him a we'll-talk-about-this-later look, to which he responded by giving a cheeky grin.

"Are you okay Hope?" Asked Scott with deep concern, he had refrained from calling her sweetheart

"Yeah, a little shaken up but fine." Replied Hope she gasped as she remembered that Olivia was present, "Are you aright Liv?"

"I'm fine –" but she stopped and vomited on the side of the street.

"Oh Liv, I'm so sorry." Hope said embracing her cousin.

"I'm fine, I think it was the excitement and the nerves but I'm going to be okay." She said reassuringly, "If Sirus hadn't been around we would've –" her voice trailed off.

They all turned to thank Sirus to find that he was gone.

* * *

Sirus had disappeared before Olivia had vomited, he need to be alone to think, assess, calculate recent events. Jim had cleared them with SFPD so he had taken the opportunity to leave, besides now that the adrenaline had finished he began to feel nervous around Olivia. _I'm going to have to figure out why._ He thought as he reached his car and drove back to his place. He wasn't sure how good a look the assailants had gotten of him but he didn't want to take any chances. He drove around aimlessly trying to see if he was being followed, after an hour he headed for his place, his phone range twice but he ignored it and turned the GPS tracker off.

* * *

Scott and Hope sat alone on a couch in her home. Olivia had gone to take a shower and get some the sleep, their recent ordeal was starting to take its toll. Rebecca had known roughly where Sirus was going, it was his thing and she didn't intrude. Instead she was outside pacing the corridor looking for possible escape routes. Keeping an eye out incase those goons decided to come back.

"Are you alright sweetheart?" Asked Scott tenderly looking at Hope who was resting her head on his shoulder.

"I guess –" She said slowly, "I just feel horrible for Liv – I know how to handle a gun but I'm not sure about her."

"Hmm well maybe Rebecca and Sirus can teach us, I'm not going to always have my suit around to quickly don. Plus I don't want anything to happen to you." He said

Hope leaned upwards and captured his lips, it was a short kiss but she had initiated it and it made Scott's heart sing. They kissed again this time it was more passionate then before, they leaned in for another only to be stopped by someone clearing their throat.

"Oh Rebecca." Said Hope blushing bright red.

"I've received word from Sirus, he's been doing some digging around, it looks like Andrew Schmit has bugged out. Our mystery lady is also gone and it looks like the goons as well. However, its come to my attention, out attention." She corrected, "that you will need to learn how to shoot."

"Funny you should mention that." Said Scott casting a grin.

"Sirus and I will teach you how to use icers, as we can't have bodies being dropped around."

Scott and Hope nodded their head in agreement, unlike their ex-SHIELD operators it would be harder for them to disappear without a trace. Apart from their name there was little information on them, they were virtually of the grid. They began to discuss precaustion measures they would take, as they weren't certain if this was a one off or just the beginning. A knock on the door startled them and Rebecca drew her gun. She peered through the spy hole and saw that it was Hank and that he was clearly annoyed about something.

"What's up?" She asked as she opened the door.

Hank didn't answer instead stepped into the hall to go find his daughter. He came across Scott and Hope kissing again, they had taken the most of the opportunity.

"Just shoot me." He said gruffly.

"Oh – Dad –" Said Hope breaking the kiss her face was bright red.

"You're lucky I don't have a gun on me Lang."

"I am grateful for that." Scott replied looking like a child caught doing something he wasn't suppose to be doing.

"Hope are you alright?" Hank asked his disapproval had disappeared as he looked anxiously at his daughter.

"I'm fine dad." She said flashing him a smile.

"Good." He said satisfied with the answer.

"What's wrong?" Asked Hope.

"This!" He said loudly placing one of his vials on the table, "it's a fake,"

"Um didn't we already establish that?" Scott said his brow furrowing.

"Yeah but I've been doing some digging around, no Scott it isn't wasn't stalking, but I'm heading off to London tonight. Hydra, to the best of my knowledge is still in procession of the vial, if they can unlock the secret of it – we will have world wide threat."

"London why?" Rebecca broke in taking a seat next to Hope.

"I have an old friend there, who I trust, he and I used to run OPS in the soviet during the cold war. He also was the one who warned your mother and I about the ICBM (inter-continental ballistic missile), he was a good friend of your mother Hope."

Hope felt tears threatening to spill at the mention of her mother, Scott gave her hand a tender squeeze he had felt her tense at the mention of her mother. _I wonder if I could bring her back_. The thought came from nowhere but the more he thought about it the more he was willing to give it a shot, he would talk to Rebecca and Sirus about it later. Perhaps during their time in SHIELD they had encountered something similar. There was a a possibility especially seeing that the world in which they lived was now exposed to inhumans and enhanced people. Rebecca noticed the change of demeanor on Hope, it was clear something was bothering her.

"I'd like to met this friend." Said Hope calmly.

"I thought you might, actually depending on what answers I can dig up, I might need the team over in London." Hank replied, "Ah Olivia how are you handling this?"

Olivia had woken up and had heard parts of the conversation. She took a seat next to her uncle and began to speak about how she was feeling. Hank wasn't pleased that goons had made an attempt at his daughter and niece's life. He stood up about to leave but before walking out the door he motioned to Scott to come close.

"Take care of her." He warned.

"I give you my word, I will." Said Scott seriously, "and I will make sure that Olivia is well taken care of."

Hank nodded his appreciation, "I know I'm an old, grouch and I haven't been the most supportive in this relationship but I must say it is quiet refreshing to see her so happy." He paused before continuing, "Andrew Schmit is still a threat, I need you to break into his apartment and recover any information you can."

Scott nodded his head and then Hank was gone. He returned to find Hope and Olivia with packed bags in the living room.

"What's going on?" he asked curiously

"Rebecca suggested we stay over at her and Sirus's place until things blow over." Olivia said

"Isn't Sirus going to mind?"

"Nah, he's not going to say no to two beautiful women coming over to stay." Hope teased

Hope smirked as she watched Scott's expression change to worry. _My, isn't someone jealous._

"No Sirus is going to be staking out Schmit as well digging for information from a friend of ours." Cut in Rebecca, "besides I think he said he had an apartment a little ways away where he sometimes stays. Don't worry he isn't going to steal your girlfriend Scott."

The girls all laughed at Scotts discomfort, he mumbled something unintelligent as he watched Olivia and Rebecca leave. Hope remained behind and they quickly embraced.

"Stay safe okay?" Scott murmured into Hope's ear.

"You stay out of trouble Lang!" She smiled back.

They kissed deeply before departing. Scott knew that with Rebecca they would be quite safe.

* * *

Sirus sat watching five different monitors. He had gotten Kurt to hack into the traffic light cameras to get a better look at the highlanders that had pursued them throughout San Fran. The live feeds were running and Sirus was taking note of the tactics they used. His phone began to ring,

"Yeah this is Sirus."

"Hey Sirus, feel like helping me with something tonight?" Asked Scott on the other end of the line.

"Sure bets listening to girls talking and giggling." Sirus replied, "I'll be over in twenty."

* * *

Rebecca was busy questioning herself on why she had even offered to invite the girls over. Two reasons came to mind, the first being it would be easier for her to protect them if they were all in the same location, besides their home was alike a solidary fortress, in that Sirus had spent days reinforcing the walls, replacing the windows to be bulletproof it would take a siege ram to bust the door in. The second reason was she was no idiot, she knew Sirus was smitten of Olivia Evans and he was too shy and naïve to do anything about it. She wanted to get to know this Olivia and this was the best way to do it. She grimaced at the night that was going to befall her, had this been before Josh's death it would be a no brainer, but ever since his death she felt a part of herself missing.

" _She's lost to me."_ She recalled her brother saying after his breakdown.

" _She's lost to me too._ " She had replied.

Rebecca was no longer the extroverted, outgoing person she once held so highly. No that was when Josh was there and now she was the opposite. _I'm doing this for Sirus._ She caught herself thinking. She knew all to well Sirus wouldn't be present until later tonight or not at all. She laughed silently thinking about his reaction when he first lay eyes on Olivia. _What a dork._ She smirked at that. She would help him as she was almost certain he would not act on his feelings, being married to Josh and through experience she knew how guys thought and Sirus being her brother was no exception. Sirus would most likely argue with himself unsure of what he was feeling, which result in him doing something foolish. _This is going to be some fun payback._ She thought as she reminisced all the times Sirus had poked fun at her for falling in love with Josh and eventually marrying him.

"I miss you Josh babe, I miss you so much," She whispered quietly, through misty eyes.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 15

Hank stepped off Delta Airlines and got through customs and immigration without a single problem. He glanced up and spotted his old friend, a tall man around his age. He gave a small head nod and they walked off together, once they reached the car park and were on their way did either of them speak.

"Hank good see you old friend."

"John, I see you haven't changed much." Hank replied smiling at the giant.

"Its been a long time eh?"

"Too long John, you still running into trouble?"

"Well it depends on what you define as trouble." Chuckled John, "If you are referring to the good old days, then yes occasionally. I mainly fish though."

Fish was John's way of saying as tracking down intel or following leads. Gone were the days of foiling the soviets. No a new time and era had risen and that was information and digital technology.

"Have you caught anything?" Hank asked, referring to the vials.

"Yeah a small one, it not much but it's a start."

Hank didn't like the situation at all, his vial, his suit he had successfully hidden from the world, now there was were rumors and Darren Cross had actually created it. A scowl crossed his face as he thought of Hydra. They drove out into the country side onto a large property that John owned. He ushered Hank inside and showed him his room.

"Take a rest or freshen up, you'll know where to find me." He said leaving Hank alone.

Ten minutes later Hank was walking towards the study when he came across a lady around Hope's age. She gave him a quick smile,

"Uncle Hank?"

"Is that you Liz?" He asked,

"Yeah." She replied giving Hank a hug.

Hank and her chatted briefly before they both headed towards John's study. It was a large room, a table stood in the center and a large desk by the window which over looked the gardens. John sat behind the desk reading documents he looked up and smiled at his daughter and Hank.

"Alright so here's what I know so far." John began, "word is that hydra doesn't posses the vial."

"That's not possible, they must have it!" Hank said flabbergasted.

"Well Liz and I have been searching, gathering intel but nothing. I do know that Hydra has issued a reward to capture a man called Andrew Schmit. Apparently he did some double crossing leaving Hydra in an unpleasant mood."

Hank's face paled at this news, he felt uneasy and hurried over to a seat. This was not good, if Andrew Schmit wasn't Hydra then perhaps he was a different organization. Liz walked over to Hank to see if he was alright.

"I'm fine –" He said hastily, "I need to call Hope." He announced.

John motioned to Liz to give the secured laptop to Hank, in a few moments he was calling Hope and praying that nothing had gone wrong.

* * *

Hope got off the phone with Hank her face was a pale as she turned to Olivia and Rebecca. It was already quite late the the girls had spent the night talking quietly about recent events. There was a sound of keys jingling as Sirus entered the home, tired and somewhat amused. He didn't stay long and disappeared into the basement only to return a few moments later carrying an assault rifle and night vision goggles. He turned to look at the girls sitting on the couch, a smile spread across his face when his eyes settled on Olivia. He swallowed hard and felt his heart begin to race. His palms began to get sweaty and quickly turned to avoid getting interrogated by his sister.

"What exactly are you doing Si?" Demanded Rebecca her voice displaying her jealously.

"Um – nothing – " He replied calmly still not daring to turn around, he continued to head for the door.

"Si!" she growled

"It was Scott's idea!" He finally said.

"What?" Piped up Hope curiously.

Sirus groaned loudly and turned to face them. "Scott and I are going to do some observing," he after a moment of silence pasted, "plus we are going to break into that Schmit's place before someone gets to tamper with the room."

* * *

With that he left the house and hurried over to Scott's waiting van. Scott gave an over exaggerated groan as Sirus settled himself in the passenger's seat. Kurt was in the back humming away some tune that sounded like something you would hear at a funeral. There was little traffic out at this time of night so they arrived fairly quickly. Scott parked the car a few blocks away.

"So what exactly is the plan?" Asked Sirus watching as Scott donned his suit.

"I go in with Antony 2, gather what I can and you stop anyone who will interfere." Scott replied before disappearing.

"What exactly is your roll Kurt?" Sirus asked slipping on his night vision goggles and hiding himself in the shadow. His hand was resting on the assault rifles trigger.

"Decryption." He said flatly watching Sirus with the large gun.

Sirus shrugged his shoulders and peered out into the dead empty street. A few cars passed by mostly people returning from a bar or someone's party. Sirus paid no attention to those, they didn't raise warning flags. From his potion he could look out the rearview mirror there was a man standing on the sidewalk a phone pressed to his ear. Puffs of steam could be seen coming out his mouth.

"Kurt." Whispered Sirus quietly, "Back now as quiet as possible."

Something didn't feel right, something about that man wasn't right. They shuffled to the back of the van and hid in the darkness. Where they hid there would be no hint of detection, as the back windows were tinted. Sirus still had his night vision goggles on and wondered what exactly the man was up to. He pressed a small button on his wrist band and instantly he could see through the back doors. There stood the man the phone was gone and in its place was a submachine gun.

"Scott, we have a hit." Sirus whispered quietly.

"Almost done." Came Scott's hushed replied.

Sirus continued to watch, this man he assumed was Hydra. Most likely a hired assassin to track down Andrew Schmit. The light where the man stood hid the majority of his features but there was something oddly familiar about the man's posture, Sirus racked his brains in order to remember. Sirus slowly raised his rifle up and aimed the barrel at the man's head, incase the man decided to investigate the van. A car came down the street Sirus watched as the man hid his weapon, the light shone brightly on him and Sirus froze and felt tingles erupt all over his body. He swallowed hard as he saw who the figure was.

* * *

Hope paced the lounge room floor, impatiently she wondered what exactly Sirus and Scott were up to at such an hour. Its not like it had to be done or did it? She sighed as she walked upstairs into the guest room that Rebecca and made up previously. She sat on her bed and lay wide awake, her thoughts were on Scott. She heard a door creak open and the quiet footsteps of someone walking down the stairs. Hope got up, curiosity got the better of her. She found Rebecca sitting at the kitchen table, screens were projected as she was going over footage as well as talking to Sirus.

"Are you sure?" Rebecca asked quietly.

"Positive, no one else is like that – " Sirus's voice quavered.

"I thought he died."

"He is dead – " Sirus's voice betrayed his confidence, "I pulled the trigger, I know what I saw – "

"You aren't seeing things are you?"

"Beck, I'm telling you it was him!" Sirus sounded angry.

"Very well, if that is true, you better check on Sarah, the last thing we need is her to wide up dead." Rebecca said frowning, "will he be a problem?"

Sirus's didn't responded. Rebecca didn't say anything; she knew full well that this information wasn't sitting well with Sirus. Hope's mind was racing, who where they talking about? Who was Sarah? Who had Sirus's supposedly killed? She backed up slowly only to cause Rebecca to turn around and catch Hope red handed.

"What are you doing?" Asked Rebecca in an accusing tone.

"I couldn't sleep – " Stammered Hope, "I didn't want to interrupt."

Rebecca stood observing Hope for a few moments before shrugging her shoulders and indicating for her to join her. Neither of them spoke as Rebecca continued to shift through video camera footage.

* * *

Sirus knocked on the door to his house. He had spent a fruitless time trying to warn Sarah Gates, the SHIELD agent he had saved during the fall of SHIELD, that she was in potential danger and should be careful. She hadn't taken him seriously and declared him to be drunk. Not only that but he had barely slept the entire night and was now back at his place to help train Hope and Olivia in improving their skills at weaponry.

"Good morning Sirus." Said Hope tiredly.

"Morning." He replied before entering and shutting the door behind him.

Sirus passed on a message from Scott and made a beeline for the kitchen. He found Rebecca at the kitchen table looking at car plates and footage. The smell of bacon and sausages sizzling made Sirus's mouth water. He turned and saw Olivia busy in the kitchen.

"Coffee?" Asked Olivia not noticing that Sirus was present.

"Yeah I take some." He replied taking a moment to look at Olivia.

"Oh Sirus – you're here." Olivia said smiling.

Sirus felt his heart race. _She's absolutely drop dead gorgeous_ , he found himself thinking, _get a grip of yourself._ He returned a smile before turning and looking back at Rebecca. The only sound present over the next few minutes was the sound of breakfast cooking. Sirus set the table and soon they were all eating.

"We are now in procession of Andrew's laptop computer. Kurt is running decryption as we speak and should hopefully be able answer some question, however I'm not holding my breath. Andrew appears to have bugged out hours before we arrived, most likely this laptop is clean."

"Crap." Muttered Rebecca, "we are going to begin the training." It was a statement not a question.

Sirus nodded head as he took a large sip of his coffee. When breakfast was finished and the dishes cleaned Sirus proceeded to teach Olivia and Hope. Sirus had them all practicing how to chamber a magazine and cock a rifle in under 6 seconds. He nodded as both girls proved to be very capable and quick to pick things up. He then ordered Hope to empty an entire mag from a SHIELD issued handgun. He offered a few pointers but saw for the most part that she knew how to handle a gun.

"Your turn Olivia." He said handing her the gun that now had a fresh magazine.

"I don't know what to do – " Olivia said quietly staring at the floor.

"Oh – " said Sirus who had been unaware of this, "I can help you."

Sirus stood next to Olivia and began to show her how to stand so as to not all over at the recoil of the gun. Olivia followed his instructions and was about to aim when she felt Sirus place his hands on her waist. She felt her heart race faster.

"Keep your back straight." He said then placed his hands on hers to held steady her shaking hands, "I'll help absorb some of the impact." He offered giving her a smile.

Rebecca observed this with a large smiled spread on her face. She noticed that Sirus was being ever the gentlemen. It was amusing that Sirus didn't appear to be nervous when he was explaining how to fire a gun to Olivia. She caught Hope looking at the two with a knowing smile. Olivia squeezed into the trigger and was surprised at the recoil, she was thankful that Sirus was helping to steady her hands. After emptying an entire mag, Sirus replaced it before handing it back.

"Try again this time on your own." He nodded encouragingly.

Olivia took a deep breath, aimed and fired. After firing the bullets she handed the gun back to an impressed Sirus.

"Your wrist will most likely bruise." He said, then hastened to reassure her, "don't worry its very normal.

They moved on to hand to hand combat as having a gun around wouldn't always be practical. Hope and Rebecca spared while Sirus offered pointers to Hope on how to improve. When It was Olivia's turn she was made to practice punching a punching-bag. Sirus demonstrated a number of different strikes while Rebecca showed a number of defensive blows. She also showed Olivia a number of techniques on self-defense and how the use of a key could be a perfect defense weapon.

"Would you like to spar?" Asked Rebecca.

Olivia looked nervous, "Sure – " she said taking up a stance.

Sirus looked a little pale as Rebecca advanced on Olivia. Rebecca delivered a number of quick jabs to chest, the majority of them struck causing Olivia to stagger back. However she did manage to block a few blows, Rebecca kept going using her legs as well. Olivia was struggling at the agility and speed of Rebecca. Olivia found herself looking up at Rebecca who had knocked her off her feet, her arm was poised to strike her head. Rebecca grinned before lowing her arm and getting off Olivia and held her hand up. Olivia took it and gave a small groan as she felt her bruised body.

"That was mighty brave of you." Rebecca said giving an approving nod.

"Not bad Liv." Clapped Hope impressed that her cousin/sister had decided to take a chance of facing Rebecca, especially seeing that Hope who knew how to spar loss to Rebecca. Sirus was busy on the phone talking to Kurt, there was only one thing on the laptop that seemed to be of any real importance. When he ended the call he gave Olivia a thumbs up.

"Nice job." He said nervously her glared at Rebecca as he watched as a cheeky smile spread across her face. Sirus groaned as he saw that Hope had the exact same look.

 _Why_? He asked himself.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 16

Rebecca stood motionless, wondering why she had even bothered offering to accompany Hope to New York. She felt uneasy with all the people walking about and most importantly the memories that this place brought. The endless missions that nearly got herself and her brother killed, her first time meeting Josh Stephens, the Battle of New York and his death flooded through her memories, she held back the floodgates that begged to be let lose. _This was a mistake_. Thought Rebecca as she rapidly blinked her eyes and wiped the moisture building up. Luckily for her Hope was oblivious as she was busy on her phone trying to find out where they would be meeting one of the investors who wanted to meet in person about an idea he had for the company. He had stressed out that he was extremely busy and couldn't make it to San Francesco and he wouldn't do it over a secure network. So Hope had asked Scott, who was busy working with Sirus to track down Andrew Schmit, both men had apologies as this was an issue that couldn't be put off. Which left Olivia and Rebecca, at Sirus's suggestion Hope asked Rebecca, unsure of what she would say.

Rebecca had out rightly refused to go and it took the combined team as well as some disapproving looks from Sirus that she gave in. In particular, the fact that there was still the chance of Hope's life being at risk was what caused her to cave in. Now here she was in busy New York. She grimaced as she spotted Avenger Tower. She shook her head remembering her encounter with Tony Stark, the man clearly had no boundaries and had tried to sweet talk her into giving him access to SHIELD intel. She also didn't appreciate his stubbornness and arrogance which at times pushed Steve Roger's buttons as well as Director Fury.

"Do you like New York?" The question stunned Rebecca momentarily.

 _Like New York_? Rebecca scoffed, "It's a bitter sweet place for me."

Hope frowned not sure if she should press for more information. She felt sorry for Rebecca, she still hadn't confessed that Scott, Hank and herself had spied on her and Sirus. Over the course of knowing both of them Hope had grown fond of them both and was curious to learn more about Rebecca. From her observation she was quiet yet seemed to have a lively feeling about her. There was more to Rebecca then meets the eye and she wanted to get to know her better.

"Ah here we are," Announced Hope staring at a large building.

They entered the building and like always Rebecca's mind began to search for exists that they could use if things went ugly. She couldn't help herself, years of working for SHIELD made her take caution especially being a field agent, things like this could result in a life or death situation. Rebecca felt comfort at the combat knife concealed in her boot, as well the handgun tucked into her waist, a jacket concealed the weapon perfectly. To most outsiders it would appear a normal women going about her day.

"Relax." Spoke Hope noticing Rebecca's tense stance.

"Sorry, it's just – "

"I understand." Offered Hope giving a knowing look, showing she didn't need to explain

The entire meeting went well, leaving Hope in possession of a large booklet contain ideas and notes of the investors idea. She would have to run it through Hank first but she was pretty sure he would give his consent, the figures looked promising. It was close to lunch time so the two of the walked about trying to find a nice restraint to eat. They chose a table in the far back away from the window as to not draw attention from young men who would try to hit on them.

"Are you okay?" Asked Hope placing a hand on Rebecca's hand.

"I'm – fine." Rebecca instantly felt like kicking herself, because it sounded so unconvincing to herself.

Hope gave a small frown as a waiter approached their table and asked for their order. After the placed their order and the waiter was gone that Hope realized that Rebecca was wiping away a tear that was falling down her face. Hope felt a pain in her heart, she wanted to help Rebecca but she didn't know how to navigate the conversation.

"You know you can trust me right?" Said Hope rubbing her thumb on Rebecca's outstretched hand.

Rebecca began to chew on ice not daring to look into Hope's eyes. She looked to study the wooden table. Every minute she was in New York brought more memories, things she that had made her who she was, things that had changed her life. Moving to San Francisco had helped, but every year she returned to visit the three graves that had meant so much to her. Rebecca began to sniff as tears began to roll down her cheeks. The floodgates had been let loose, she bit her lip trying to not let any sound escape. Her body shook and she quickly curled up into a ball. Hope was beside her in an instant placing a hand on her back offering soothing words. Rebecca looked up, her face was filled with grief.

"I'll lost my husband." She stammered between tears and deep breaths.

"Oh – Rebecca – I'm so sorry."

"His name was Josh – Josh Stephens – "

"I know – " Replied Hope softly.

"He was the greatest guy on earth, kind, caring and he understood me, and he was my better half. He never blamed me or made me feel bad, when our daughter turned out to be still born. He told me how much he loved me and how it didn't change anything, yes he was sad but he didn't blame me. When we had a miscarriage he said the same thing and he meant it. I felt so bad and I wanted to die, we were wanting a child so badly – " She broke out into another round of crying.

"Josh sounds like an amazing guy." Hope said giving Rebecca a small smile.

"He was, more then amazing, I didn't deserve someone like him."

"Rebecca Stephens, you listen to me, you are an amazing person." Hope said, "you are smart, resources and very loyal."

Rebecca gave a small halfhearted laugh, "you sound like my brother."

"Sirus is right about that," Hope paused trying to find the right words to say, "you need to stop feeling so bad Rebecca."

"You don't understand Hope." Said Rebecca wiping the tears away. She proceeded to relate the entire story of Josh's death.

"It was like it was I was just there to watch." She said more tears were running down the side of her face.

"Oh – Rebecca – " Hope said feeling her heart break, "you have been through so much, more than anyone should ever have to go through. Thank you for sharing this with me."

"This city it brings back all the memories, everything I had with Josh and Sirus. This is where it all began. The times we had together, meeting and dating Josh and eventually marrying him. Its why I didn't want to come to New York."

"Rebecca – I'm so sorry had I known I'd – " Began Hope but was interrupted

"No don't apologies, they were right about you needed protection besides," She brightened up slightly, "I appreciate you allowing me to share my tale of woe."

"Anytime Rebecca, you know I lost my mother when I was very little."

"Really?" Rebecca hadn't known this.

"Yeah she and Hank they used to fight the soviets together. Anyway one day they fired an ICBM and dad tried to stop it but it was made from titanium, he couldn't cut through it. My mum sacrificed her life to disarm the missile and save the US. It pained my father and myself and he never told me up until when Scott came into my life."

Rebecca was silent, she simply nodded her head. She realized that if anything Hope and her shared some similarities both were headstrong and were very capable women. Not only that but they had both lost someone of great importance to her. _Perhaps they could be friends._ Thought Rebecca.

"I'm a mess." Chuckled Rebecca.

"We all are Bex." Offered Hope, "why don't you clean yourself up."

Rebecca nodded her head and headed towards the restroom. Once she was inside she washed her face and fixed her dark auburn curly loose hair. She pulled out her phone.

"Thanks Sirus." She typed, it buzzed a moment later.

"No worries Becca." She frowned before letting a smile play on her face.

"Don't call me that." She said not letting him know she would let it slide this one time.

"Whatever you say." Came the reply and he had even added a wink.

When Rebecca returned there was a large meal splayed on the table. Both girls dug into the meal. Rebecca hadn't noticed how hungry she was and was thankful for the food they had ordered.

"I was thinking maybe we could stay in New York for an extra day." Said Hope then hit her forehead, "I'm sorry – "

"Its fine." Reassured Rebecca, "sure if you want to I guess. As long as we don't go to Washington DC, ugh I don't think I could stand going there."

"You sure its just I don't – "

"I'll be okay" Said Rebecca, "besides there's more I want to talk about."

Hope smiled at Rebecca as the two of them continued to eat.

Rebecca called Sirus to see how his day had been.

"Tiring and once again fruitless." Her brother said in a frustrated manner.

"Oh?" Asked Rebecca indicating she wanted to hear more.

"Well our 'friend' has vanished without a trace, followed the lead on his laptop which was a dead end." Sirus trailed on and on, "oh Hank called us a few hours ago he said we are needed in England."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Scott, Kurt and I will fly to New York at first light pick you girls up and fly to England."

"Make sure you bring my gear." Said Rebecca, "oh and Hope says her suit."

"Sure thing." Sirus replied before hanging up the phone.

"What was that about?" Asked Hope curiously.

"Your Dad wants us in England pronto." Stated Rebecca flopping down on the bed.

"England? Hmm he was visiting a good friend of his and my mother."

"What was she like?"

"My mother? She was beautiful but I can hardly remember her, she died when I was pretty young. I think between that and my Dad sending me to boarding school it caused my mind to block out those memories."

"I barely knew my Dad, he supposedly died before Sirus was born. But I think he simply left mum – " Rebecca said softly

"What?"

"Sirus has only ever grown up with me and our mother. She was a strong woman, still is, though we hardly hear from her. We have to keep her safe."

"We have a quite a bit in common don't we." It was a statement which caused Rebecca to smile.

"Look I'm new to this opening up thing." But before she could continue Hope spoke up.

"Same, I'm still trying to lower my walls to let people in."

"Maybe we can learn from each other."

Both girls smiled at that before going off to bed. That night as Rebeca lay in bed staring at the ceiling her mind wondered to Josh Stephens. She felt tears stream down her face at all the memories, all the times she got to spend with him. She would cherish them forever until the day she died. Rebecca couldn't sleep she wasn't feeling tired so she took off her necklace and looked at the ring attached. It glittered in the dark reminding her of the commitment vow she had made. They had never recovered Josh's body and that was something that hurt.

"You asleep Rebecca?" Whispered Hope not wanting to wake her if she was fast asleep.

"Yeah."

Hope turned on the light, leaving it to shine dimly.

"Have you noticed Sirus's odd behavior?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I have, he is my brother." Replied Rebecca.

"He is smitten on my cousin." Smirked Hope.

"Ain't that the truth."

"He is so nervous around her why?"

"Well Sirus hasn't really given girls much thought, he's been to busy, too focused on the task at hand. There was one girl but she showed no interest in him so he just moved on. I don't think he has much experience or know what to do."

"Well I know one thing if they end up together my dad is going to want to kill him along with Scott."

"Oh?"

"Yeah he doesn't exactly approve of Scott and me."

Rebecca snorted, Hank wasn't the easy guy to get along with, he was creepy and had some weird obsession with stalking. Yet she could understand that Hank was concerned that some guy was getting between himself and his daughter.

"I'm sure he'll warm up to the idea eventually." Offered Rebecca reassuringly.

"I hope so – "

Silence lasped between them and soon Rebecca could hear the heavy breathing of Hope an indication that she was asleep.

"I miss you Josh!" She whispered softly as she closed her eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 17

Rebecca groaned as her phone began to chirp. She rolled over and blindly reached for the phone.

"Bec." She mumbled.

"Well good morning to you too sis." Laughed Sirus, "what exactly did you two get up to last night?"

"Nothing we just talked." She said revealing how annoyed she was right now,

"just wanting to let you know that we will be in New York in an hour."

"What on – "

"Yeah sorry we decided to leave a bit earlier," Replied Sirus in an amused tone, "turn your tracker on and we'll swing by." Sirus severed the connect before Rebecca could retort.

Rebecca sat up and took a shower hoping that it would help remove the drowsiness. After a hot shower she felt relieved and found that Hope was awake. They talked little both still trying to awaken fully. Hope yawned and wished she had a cup of coffee right about now. An hour passed before Rebecca's phone buzzed; check out of your hotel and make your way to the large parking lot nearby. Rebecca rolled her eyes and motioned Hope to follow. They soon arrived just as Kurt was returning carrying large bags of what looked like food. He gave them a small grin before knocking at the air, they heard the distinct sound of metal. Kurt stepped away as the back opened up revealing Scott and Sirus their eyes closed and slouching in their chairs. Rebecca coughed startling both boys, Sirus jumped to his feet drawing his handgun and Scott tripped and fell over. This caused both girls to burst out laughing at the comical state in which they had gotten themselves into.

"Becky what's your problem!" Grumbled Sirus a look of displeasure was spread across his face his face brightened up at the sight of Kurt and his bags of food.

"What took so long Kurt?" Demanded Scott equally annoyed.

"Long line, besides there was pretty girl." He replied casually.

Scott and Sirus rolled their eyes in disbelief but rushed forward at the sight of Olivia. Rebecca and Hope were surprised and held their arms out to embrace them only to have them rush past. They whirled around to find them surrounding Olivia and grabbing the trays of coffee.

"Life saver Olivia." Said Sirus taking a sip of one of the cups before handing his sister one.

"Yeah!" Chimed the girls flashing her appreciated looks.

"Glad to be of service." She replied flashing a smile over at Sirus who turned red in the cheeks and quickly looked away. Sirus soon had the jet in the air heading for England. As they sailed over the Atlantic they began to break into the food that Kurt had gotten. Rebecca grew silent and made her way to the co-pilot seat. Sirus joined her momentarily as he knew this was where Josh had died 3 years ago.

"You okay?" He asked quietly so that the others wouldn't hear.

"I'm fine, its just – " Her voice trialed off.

"Yeah I know – I'm sorry Becca," He gave her a small smile, "I wish he had made it." It was as if he could read her mind.

Hope glanced up at the two up front and guessed they were having a private conversation as they looked at one another. Scott and Kurt were laughing about something of a rather. Never being up front before Hope wondered up taking a seat behind Rebecca.

"Wow the view is amazing." She said.

Sirus and Rebecca looked back and smiled.

"Yeah Rebecca here loves to take photos of stuff, sometimes during storms she begs me to fly her up into one to get some pretty sick shots." Sirus said turning back to look ahead. Eva was in control of the plane but he wanted to be on alert if anything was threatening them out of the sky. Olivia was resting quietly and Sirus couldn't help but look behind him and steal glances at her. It was always for a brief moment then he'd back around. Rebecca and Hope exchanged glances and smirked at each other.

"So what's up between you and Liv?" Whispered Hope to Sirus.

"Nothing why?" asked Sirus mumbling.

Rebecca snickered and Sirus shot her an icy glare which would have intimidated anyone. Rebecca continued to laugh and Sirus groaned before fixing his eyes up ahead. He wasn't amused at all. He bit his bottom lip, these feelings he was having was foreign to him, he knew he liked Olivia but was it just a crush? _I barely know her_. He reasoned with himself. But there was something about her, something special.

Hank grinned as he saw the Quinn Jet land and de-cloak. The back lowered and the team filed out. Hank hugged his niece and daughter, gave Sirus and Scott an icy glare and a warm smile at Rebecca. He nodded his head briefly at Kurt who was the last to disembark, lugging rather large suitcase. He raised a questioning eye and Sirus explained that Kurt had brought his 'monster' computer, as he and Rebecca returned to the jet.

"Kurt why on earth?" Hank asked curiously.

"My computer is way cooler, besides this will be hard to trace." He said grinning cheekily.

Hank sighed and ran a hand through his hair, he turned to watch as Sirus and Rebecca returned lifting a large crate. He shot them both a do-I-even-want-to-know look, both held straight faces as the walked past him, once their backs were facing Hank they grinned at each other, knowing he would most defiantly flip at the arsenal Sirus had packed. Sirus had the ship left in cloaking mode until Hank could find a place to store the Quinn Jet. He led them over to a large before opening the door he turned and faced them all.

"Please for the love of all things behave." He said shooting an icy glare at the boys.

"Why you looking at us?" Whined Scott.

"Yeah?" Countered Sirus.

"Brother you were notorious for getting into trouble." Smirked Rebecca as Sirus let out a small growl.

Hank groaned shaking his head wondering why he put up with this. He opened the door and motioned them to follow him. They stood in a large room with two large stairways in front of them. There was a lounge room to the left and on the right lead into a larger room. They stood waiting for their host to appear, they turned to watch a man descend the stairs.

"May I introduce my dear friend John Weston." Hank said.

The boys shook John's hand and the girls did the same. When he came to Hope he gave her a big hug, which surprised Hope.

"She's beautiful Hank." He said turning to Hank who was beaming with pride.

Hope blushed and turned to study the floor. He motioned them to follow him into his study. Rebecca and Sirus were the last to follow as they still carried the large crate, with Kurt just in front of them, struggling with his suitcase. When they were all in John's study he lowered the blinds and beckoned them to sit and relax.

"Albert, please bring up some refreshments." John said, "he's my butler."

Albert soon arrived he was a middle age man and had a pleasant feel about him. He smiled at all of them and quickly set down drinks and a light snack before he asked if they would be needing anything else. John thanked him before dismissing them. There was a light knock on the door before it opened up revealing Elizabeth. The boys all stood up bringing amused smiles on Hope and Rebecca's face. Sirus sat back down frowning slight but brighten up when he saw Olivia. Scott returned to his seat while Kurt stood his mouth agape. Hank sighed and rolled his eyes while John held an amused expression upon his face.

"My daughter Elizabeth."

"Kurt." Offered Kurt and smiled at her.

Sirus and Scott smirked at Kurt's odd behavior. They had never seen him in such a state and it was rather amusing to them. A quick glare from both Rebecca and Hope caused them to mumble an apology and turn their attention to John, not before looking back at Kurt who was now sitting.

"I've called you guys here because we have a lead on the vial." Spoke Hank breaking the silence that had lapsed he motioned for John to speak.

"I've got a source in France who has been keeping an ear out for so said vial. He says something big is about to happen as already a small force of Hydra has arrived as well as a third party that no one seems to recognize."

"France will be a nightmare." Stated Rebecca, she offered an explanation as everyone looked at her, "lets just say I have some experience there."

"A small force of Hydra isn't something that should have you calling us Hank, what exactly is happening?" Asked Sirus frowning.

"Elizabeth has done some research and probing and has almost certain that Andrew Schmit is heading over to France in a number of days, under the name Jasper. We think he is trying to sell the vial to this third party, our job is to intercept it before the trade off can happen." Spoke John.

Kurt looked at Elizabeth quite impressed at her skill. He was a master at finding information and had failed to find this. Sirus stayed quiet he didn't like this too much, France was a place where things could escalate fast, the last thing they needed was a large firefight in Paris to hit the news. Rebecca sensed what was troubling Sirus and spoke up.

"With all do respect John but that isn't going to be easy. Hydra's already there which means they are most likely there to execute Andrew and make off with the vial. I suspect that they exchange won't happen in Paris, I think Italy is where they'd go."

"Italy?" Asked Hank curiously.

"Yes Venice." She replied, "harder to intercept, with the canals and access to the seaside."

John nodded his head slowly, "alright but I still think you should head to Paris."

"Agreed." Came Rebecca, "it is still possible that the exchange might happen in Paris but its unlikely."

Hank and John looked at each other and agreed with Rebecca.

"I've sourced weaponry for you guys." John began but was immediately interrupted by Sirus.

"No need sir." He declared

"Why is that?" asked John looking at the young man in front of him.

Sirus knelt down to the crate and opened the lid and began to unpack its contents. Everyone except for Rebecca's jaw dropped open. He pulled out a number of assault rifles, handguns, flash bangers, grenades, grappling guns, combat knives, 2 blackhawk sniper rifles and lastly a rocket launcher. Sirus grinned at his armory and then reached into the crate and pulled out two brand new combat suits.

"You actually finished them!" exclaimed Rebecca in surprise.

"You actually doubted me?" Asked Sirus pretending to be offended as he handed one to Rebecca.

"Mighty impressive." She said praising Sirus.

The armor she held was light and flexible. She hit the armor and was surprised at the strength of it. Sirus stood grinning as he slipped his own. He then tossed one of the handguns to Rebecca and motioned her to shoot him. She looked skeptical but after a reassuring nod she fired a round at his chest. The armor took the majority of the impact and Sirus stood untouched.

"Nice right?" he said taking the armor off.

" _Sirus!"_ Growled Hank loudly, "what is the meaning off all this?"

"I'm sorry – I'm not following." Sirus said frowning in confusion.

"The weapons – " Hank said in frustration, "this isn't a war we're fighting."

"I like to be prepared" Sirus said defensively, "besides our 'buddies' aren't just going to let us take their vial."

"But a rocket launcher!?" He yelled

"Its not an actual rocket launcher." Sirus said angrily, "this thing is a disrupter."

Rebecca nodded her head and proceed to explain.

"The launcher there fires a sort of contraption that short circuits anything that requires electricity or uses it. Not only that but it can be fired at a car making it immobile."

Hank groaned and stormed out of the room. Sirus looked at the fuming Hank and the wide-eyed John before shrugging his shoulders and packing up his arsenal. John showed them to their rooms, the boys would be sharing a large room. While the girls would share one with Elizabeth, he left them all to rest as he was sure that jetlag would soon takes its toll on their bodies.

It was morning when Sirus and Scott trudged down the stairs into the dinning room to find Kurt there talking to Elizabeth. Both of them tried to follow their conversation but were soon lost as they talked about computer and different ways of hacking. Scott mumbled something about them speaking an alien language with Sirus muttered that they were freaks. Albert appeared and asked them what they felt like eating. After placing their orders, Elizabeth proceeded to tell them about Albert. He has been a close friend of her father's and had ended up serving as a butler, he was so ever loyal to John and was quite fond of his job. His wife Celia helped him along with a chef, and a few maids.

Soon the smell of breakfast filled the air and the girls arrived and took the seats opposite the boys.

"Where have you been?" Demanded Sirus pretending to be cranky.

"That's right!" Said Scott playing along, "we expected you girls to be up early for training."

Both of them burst out laughing and were soon bending over the table and banging on the table struggling to breath. Hank appeared and scolded them both for their behavior which brought smirks from the others. Rebecca shook her head at her brother's antics but couldn't help but smile. She noticed that Olivia was smiling and was occasionally sneaking looks at Sirus. _I am going to have to get to the bottom of this._ Thought Rebecca curious to know what was going through Olivia's mind.

"Breakfast is ready." Announced Albert and soon trays and trays of food were brought out and the next hour was spent eating and chatting about how the day would play out. Rebecca was swift in arranging that Olivia, herself and Sirus would continue to practice with the Icers while Scott and Hope practiced skills with their suits. She gave a cheeky wink at Hope who smiled a thank you at her.

* * *

Scott and Hope stood along outside explore the grounds. They would shrink and reappear randomly and practiced on their fighting skills as well as exploring the limits of their suits. After a while they got out of they changed and where now walking towards the beautiful gardens that John had.

"How are you sweetheart?" Asked Scott looking affectionately at Hope.

"I'm good, I missed you." She said smiling playfully at him.

Scott closed the gap between them and quickly kissed her, he pulled back quickly not wanting to be caught by Hank who would have a fit. They talked as they walked, their hands were intertwined and they would would look into each others eyes and smile.

"So you ready for this?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Would you like to do something tonight?" Scott asked nervously.

"You mean go on a date?"

"Yeah, I was thinking we could have a moonlit picnic. We could ask Albert for some candles and see if he could get the chef to prepare some food for us." He said before adding, "that is unless you don't want to – "

"That sounds wonderful Scott." She said smiling at him sweetly.

* * *

Sirus watched as Olivia went through the routine that Rebecca and himself had set out for her. It consisted of running, pushups and then an hour of firing a gun and an Icer then hand-to-hand combat.

"Want to spar again?" Asked Rebecca grinning at Olivia.

"Sure." Replied Olivia take a stance.

They spared a few times resulting in Olivia getting slammed onto the ground every time. Sometimes it was by a leg choke other times it was Rebecca flipping her body. Hank stood shaking his head.

"Stop torturing her Mrs. Stephens."

"I'm not – " Rebecca said defensively.

"Uncle its fine – I know what I'm getting myself into." Spoke up Olivia, "besides I've been improving haven't I?"

"Yes you are making excellent progress." Said Sirus walking over handing both girls a towel and a bottle of water.

"Thanks Sirus, it means a lot."

"Oh – um – no worries." He said smiling.

Rebecca wiped her face before taking a large gulp of water. _Sirus you are such a dork._ She laughed internally. Hank looked at them with disapproval but remained silent.

"Want to spar Si?" She asked turning to Sirus.

"Nah, don't want to get this shirt sweaty."

"Sure – I think you're just scared to get your butt served to you by a girl." Smirked Rebecca trying to coax him into a spar.

Sirus growled and took his shirt off revealing his ripped upper body. Olivia felt her heart racing as she watched his muscle bulged as he strapped the sparing gloves on. Her eyes stared at his scars that covered his chest she noticed a large scar on the side of his stomach. Hank was scowling at Sirus's display but took a seat. _This is going to be interesting._ He mused. Sirus entered the ring they had made on the grass and began to throw a few shadow punches at an imaginary person then stood still and walked up to Rebecca, they touched gloves and then they began. Sirus was quick to attack, delivering a series of blows at a deadly speed. Rebecca was fast to block his attacks but a few of them caused her to stagger back. She side stepped as Sirus tried to aim jab at her exposed chest. The momentum caused him to stagger momentarily.

"Getting a little cocky there." Teased Rebecca.

Things changed and soon it was Rebecca who was pressing the attack while Sirus struggled to defend himself. The spar was growing intense as Sirus was soon knocked to his feet and his sister was giving him a leg choke. Sirus tried to remain calm so that he wouldn't panic and leave himself even more vulnerable. He felt his lungs demand for air and thought of a plan. He raised his hand poised to tap out and Rebecca slowly released the pressure. It was too late for her to realize her mistake as Sirus threw her over his head and stood up. Rebecca lay on the ground stunned at her brother's trickery.

"Very smooth brother." She laughed and held up her hand.

Sirus nodded his head and refused to help her up. She gave him a questioning look.

"Not until you concede." He said chuckling, "you don't really think I'd place myself in a position like that."

"You're learning." She laughed and tapped out.

"Yes after getting owned by you plenty of times I have learnt." He said helping her up.

"That was impressive." Said Olivia in awe.

"Indeed." Hope said, she had appeared shortly after Sirus and Rebecca touched gloves.

"Scott?" Asked Sirus.

"No thank you." He quickly replied and hurried off to find Albert.

Olivia handed Sirus a towel and gave him her half empty water bottle. Sirus took it eagerly and downed it all. They shared a small smile and proceed to talk and Sirus explained some of the techniques he used against Rebecca, in turn Rebecca explained why she had used certain strikes against Sirus. Olivia took note of this all and wondered if she would ever be able to beat Rebecca. She doubted it, but perhaps she might be able to beat her cousin.

"Time for the shower." Said Sirus standing up and grabbing his shirt before jogging back to the house.

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea." Agreed Rebecca and followed her brother.

Sirus walked out of the shower feeling refreshed and looked at Scott who was pacing the floor. A bemused expression spread across his face as he watched his friend.

"Scott what's wrong?" He asked curiously.

"Nothing – " He stammered.

"Scott, its Hope isn't it?" He smirked as Scott did a double take, "its sort of hard to miss." He offered.

Scott nodded his head and told him of his plans.

"Nice one." Sirus said giving a thumbs up, "I guess that means Kurt and I will have to think of some excuse for your absentness."

Scott laughed slightly at that then frowned, sinking back into deep thought.

"What?" Sighed Sirus rolling his eyes.

"What if Hope doesn't like how this turns out? What if it rains? What if I stuff up and say something wrong? What if – "

Sirus burst out laughing at Scott's demeanor. Scott glared at him but Sirus continued laughing.

"Listen Scott everything is going to be fine." He said reassuringly, "besides that's beside the point, what matters is that you're hanging out together."

"Thanks Sirus."

"Anytime," Smiled Sirus, "oh and you owe me one."

"Ain't that the truth"

* * *

Hank looked suspiciously at Scott and Hope as they ate little during dinner time. He had noticed that Sirus was exchanging looks at Rebecca and Kurt. He frowned not sure if he wanted to know what was going off. After dinner they decided to begin to plan their up coming mission. It was agreed that Olivia and Sirus would pose as a couple and follow Andrew Schmit around Paris. Rebecca would tail them while Scott and Hope would be close by incase things went wrong. Elizabeth and Kurt would remain in a hotel monitoring everything as well as keeping an eye out for Hydra and this third party. Afterwards they played a card game and soon the boys headed back to their room and the girls also went to bed, which Hank thought was odd, but assumed they were still adjusting to the time difference. Once Scott was back in his room he turned to the Sirus and Kurt and gave them a small nod before he went out to get things ready.

Hope paced her room, she was anxious about her date with Scott. She worried that everything would go wrong which brought out chuckles from the other girls.

"Hope stop worrying." Said Rebecca.

"Yeah cousin, its going to be a blast." Olivia said smiling.

Hope frowned as she stared at her cloths she was wearing. She had changed to a blue dress which fit her perfectly. She bit her bottom lip wondering what Scott would say. There was a soft knock on the door and Elizabeth opened it to reveal Scott.

"Is Hope ready?" He asked nervously.

"Yeah I think so." She replied before calling Hope over.

Hope appeared and the door was quickly shut behind them. Rebecca was standing behind the door listening to them talk.

"Wow Hope you look stunning in the dress." He said slowly, "hey I never thought I'd actually see you in one." He laughed remembering a previous conversation they had.

Hope laughed and Scott thought it was beautiful, they snuck out of the house together. Not aware that Hank had spotted them. Scott led her to the gardens and there in a small clearing was a large blanket with candles lighted everywhere, it was beautiful and Hope gave a small gasp. They sat down on the blanket and Scott revealed a basket and began to unpack the contents. There were cheeses, bread, salami, grapes and two small cheesecakes.

"This is beautiful Scott." Said Hope smiling at him.

Scott smiled at her as they dug into their food. They talked softly and Hope laughed at a joke he told her. Hours past as they were absorbed into each other. Hank stood watching from afar, he wasn't pleased but didn't intervene, he knew he would have to get over his disapproval sometime. He didn't feel like being yelled at by Hope, nor did he want to ruin this moment that seemed to make her feel so alive.

"Well this is it I guess." Said Scott standing outside the door.

"Yeah it is." Replied Hope not wanting this moment to end.

"Thank you Scott for everything."

"You're most welcome Hope," he replied smiling, his eyes widened up as an idea came to his head, "maybe our next date can be in Venice?"

"That would be romantic." Agreed Hope, who was surprised at her response.

"I love you Hope." Scott said seriously looking into her green eyes.

"I love you too Scott." Replied Hope and she leaned in and kissed him.

They were cut off abruptly by Rebecca opening the door revealing a devious smile. Scott and Hope parted embarrassed at being interrupted.

"Goodnight – Hope" Stuttered Scott as he entered his room.

"How did date go?" Asked Kurt looking up from his laptop.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Asked Scott raising an eyebrow at Sirus and Kurt.

"Couldn't sleep." They both replied.

"It went well really well." Scott replied.

* * *

"Tell us how it went!" demanded Olivia.

"Alright – Alright give me some space." Laughed Hope.

"It was amazing, absolutely amazing." Sighed Hope.

Olivia and Rebecca raised an eyebrow equally surprised at Hope's attitude they both smirked and were happy that Hope was changing. Olivia and Elizabeth began to bombard Hope with questions on what happened and Rebecca smirked and remained quiet thinking about all the dates she and Josh went on.

* * *

The door flew open and there stood Hank. Sirus and Kurt looked up briefly and smirked at Scott who was swallowing hard.

"Scott you and I need to talk."

Scott stood up and followed Hank out of the room, he shut the door behind him.

"What's the bet that Scott is a dead man?" asked Sirus laughing.

"200 bucks." Replied Kurt smiling as he turned back to his computer


	19. Author's Note

**Hey Guys! I hope you all had a nice Christmas and New Year. I'm nearly finished school so writing new chapters for Break Down Walls will be slow, so my apologies.**

 **I am making some changes to BDW in regards to Josh's death and Sirus and Rebecca's experience of the fall of SHIELD. I am working on another story which is a prequel of sorts titled Triple Threat focusing on Rebecca and Sirus at SHIELD, there is also ideas for a sequal to BDW and a collection of short-stories of different characters in the stories. So keep an eye out for them.**

 **For the short-stories if you have any scene or suggestions of things you want to see, send me a message and I'll consider it :) Also if you are enjoying the story leave reviews and lemme know if there are things you want to see in BDW**

 **P.S: There may be a Captain America and Sharon Carter story**


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